Lankan Prez Gotabaya Rajapaksa appoints new Cabinet

Colombo: Beleaguered Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday appointed a new 17-member Cabinet that excluded his close relatives except Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, as he called for a “system change” amidst growing demand for his resignation over the worst economic crisis faced by the island nation.

Sri Lanka is grappling with unprecedented economic turmoil since independence from Britain in 1948. The crisis is caused in part by a lack of foreign currency, which has meant that the country cannot afford to pay for imports of staple foods and fuel, leading to acute shortages and very high prices.

Earlier this month, Sri Lanka’s entire Cabinet -- aside from President Gotabaya and his elder brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa -- resigned from their posts after thousands of people defied a countrywide state of emergency and curfew and joined street protests denouncing the government.

The previous Cabinet had to make way for the president to form a unity cabinet with the Opposition members.

The Opposition, however, has rejected the offer. Rajapaksa, 72, swore in a 17-member Cabinet on Monday in addition to the three ministers he had earlier appointed.

That meant no place for the oldest member of the family Chamal Rajapaksa, Mahinda’s son Namal Rajapaksa, both of whom were Cabinet ministers and the nephew Shasheendra who was a state minister.

Both Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Mahinda Rajapaksa have separately addressed the nation in an apparent bid to placate the protesters. But calls for the president to resign have only grown louder. Speaking to the new ministers, President Rajapaksa sought their support for an efficient, clean government.

He said that he expects honest, efficient, and untainted governance from the new Cabinet. “Today, most of the government institutions are under serious economic difficulties and it is absolutely essential to rectify it,” Rajapaksa said, calling the crisis “an opportunity to bring about the system change that the people expected.”

The President’s Media Division said that there were no changes to the ministerial positions held by the President, Prime Minister, External Affairs Minister G. L. Peiris, and Finance Minister Ali Sabry. (PTI)