President appoints 9 new MPs for multi-party Cabinet

• Total Cabinet of Ministers at 14 including President and PM
• Portfolio of Finance Minister remains vacant
• Multi-party Cabinet includes 6 independent MPs consisting SLPP, SJB, SLFP
• Introduces 2 new portfolios for the first time − Constitutional Reforms and Food Security
• MPs Nalin Fernando and Tiran Alles get Ministerial portfolios for the first time

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed nine new Cabinet ministers yesterday, establishing a multi-party Government to maintain affairs of the Parliament and other functions of the country legitimately and stably.

With the nine ministers who were sworn in before President Rajapaksa yesterday, the Cabinet consists of 14-members as of yesterday, including the President and the Prime Minister.

Daily FT exclusively reported that the multi-party Cabinet will be sworn in on Friday and also revealed names of Harin Fernando and Manusha Nanayakkara getting Cabinet portfolios (https://www.ft.lk/front-page/Multi-party-Cabinet-today/44-735066).

The new Cabinet appointments were; Nimal Siripala de Silva as Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation Services, Susil Premajayantha as Minister of Education, Keheliya Rambukwella as Minister of Health, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe as Minister of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms, Harin Fernando as Minister of Tourism and Lands, Dr. Ramesh Pathirana as Minister of Plantation Industries, Manusha Nanayakkara as Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment, Nalin Fernando as Minister of Trade, Commerce and Food Security and Tiran Alles as Minister of Public Security.

Although it was speculated that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will be appointed as Finance Minister, the key portfolio remained vacant as of yesterday.  

On Thursday, the Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe too wished that a new Finance Minister be appointed soon to sign-off key policies including the support program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

It is notable that there are two new portfolios introduced for the first time such as Constitutional Reforms and Food Security.

The multi-party Cabinet also included six independent MPs; Nimal Siripala de Silva (SLFP), Susil Premajayantha (SLFP), Wijedasa Rajapakshe (SLPP), Harin Fernando (SJB), Manusha Nanayakkara (SJB) and Tiran Alles (SLPP).

Several other appointments are expected to be made over the weekend, the Daily FT learns.

On 14 May, four MPs were sworn in before the President as Cabinet Ministers. They include; Dinesh Gunawardena as Minister of Public Administration and Home Affairs, Prof. G.L. Peiris as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prasanna Ranatunga as Minister of Urban Development and Housing and Kanchana Wijesekera as Minister of Power and Energy.

The resignation of former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on 9 May, led to a political crisis with an automatic dissolution of ministers.