Sri Lanka'a New Cabinet Takes OathsSri Lanka's new Cabinet of Ministers took oaths one by one on Thursday before President Chandrika Kumaratunga.The Cabinet comprises a record number of 42 ministers including 25 members of last cabinet of ruling People's Alliance (PA). Only two women were inducted in the new cabinet. While President Kumaratunga retained the portfolios of Defense and Finance, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake retained the Plantations Ministry while having Buddhasasana and Religious affairs under his purview. Lakshman Kadirgamar was sworn in again as the Foreign Minister while dramatic changes were made to the cabinet portfolios. The new cabinet retained only 11 portfolios of last cabinet while other portfolios were either split or combined with newly created ones. The 11th general elections which was held on October 10 saw the PA securing 107 seats in the 225-seat parliament, short of the 113-seat simple majority required to form a new government. However, the PA managed to muster 116 seats to form a coalition government after securing support from two minority parties. Wickremanayake was sworn in as prime minister for a second term last Friday before President Kumaratunga at Temple Trees, the official presidential residence in Colombo. A total of 17 new faces emerged in the Cabinet which include former Western Province Chief Minister Susil Premjayanth, MEP or People's United Front Leader Dinesh Gunawardena, National Unity Alliance co-leader Rauf Hakeem and Eelam People's Democratic Party Leader Douglas Devananda. The government is yet to announce the deputy ministers. |
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