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Tuesday, 17 August 2021 02:32 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa
Prof. G.L. Peiris
Dinesh Gunawardena
Pavithradevi Wanniarachchi
Keheliya Rambukwella
Dullas Alahapperuma
Gamini Lokuge
Namal Rajapaksa
Ending widespread speculation, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday carried out a mini reshuffle of the Cabinet of Ministers.
The Daily FT first reported the impending development last Wednesday.
Ministers Prof. G.L. Peiris and Dinesh Gunawardena interchange their portfolios, with the former getting Foreign and the latter Education.
Pavithradevi Wanniarachchi was made Minister of Transport while Keheliya Rambukwella, whose media portfolio was given to Dullas Alahapperuma, was appointed the new Health Minister.
Gamini Lokuge’s portfolio was changed from Minister of Transport to Minister of Power, which was previously held by Alahapperuma.
Separately, Namal Rajapaksa was appointed the Minister of Development Coordination Monitoring to go with his existing ministerial portfolio of Youth and Sports. He is also the State Minister of Digital Technology and Entrepreneur Development.
The appointments have diverged from speculation last week that Minister of Plantation Industries Dr. Ramesh Pathirana would be made the new Health Minister, with his portfolio going to Keheliya Rambukwella. It was also thought that Wanniarachchi would be given the Power Ministry. Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga also figured amongst the speculation, but his portfolio remains unchanged.
The mini reshuffle comes at a time when the country is facing an unprecedented challenge presented by the twin crises of the COVID-19 pandemic and the flagging economy.
Sri Lanka’s COVID death toll has been rapidly rising in recent weeks, though the country is among the fastest in terms of vaccinating its people. Yesterday 3,414 more persons tested positive for COVID-19, increasing the cumulative count to 358,382 of whom 43,869 are under medical or home-based care. The COVID-19 death toll crossed the 6,000-mark on Saturday whilst on Sunday 167 more fatalities were confirmed bringing the total to 6,263.
Despite the pandemic, the economy is forecast to grow by 4% this year as against the worst ever contraction of 3.6% in 2020.
The reshuffle also comes three months before the presentation of the National Budget for 2022.
These factors prompted civil society groups and the private sector to view the reshuffle as unnecessary, ill-timed and lacking rationale. The President’s Office, in its statement, failed to provide reasons for the reshuffle.
The change of portfolios of Wanniarachchi and Rambukwella yesterday triggered the most memes and discussion on social media.
Last week, Rambukwella's remarks to the effect, “vaccination is the only choice, the rest is up to God,” went viral and drew criticism.
Wanniarachchi’s tenure as Health Minister meanwhile was challenging as well as controversial. She faced the brunt of the pandemic and was commended after the country managed the first wave well. However, she drew flak for endorsing sorcery and magic potions and pouring “blessed” water into a river last year, and more recently for understating COVID statistics. The Health Minister was also in intensive care in January after contracting COVID-19.
Speaking at a farewell function held at the Ministry of Health, Wanniarachchi said she was trying to make up her mind that "everything happens for the best."
"The Ministry of Transport has been handed over to me at an unexpected moment. I didn't really know until I got to the Presidential Secretariat. In any case, you have to accept everything in life happily," she added.
