Be dedicated

President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday appealed to new Cabinet Ministers and Deputy Ministers to dedicate themselves to fulfill the people’s aspirations. Addressing the newly appointed Cabinet and Deputy Ministers at the Presidential Secretariat after the swearing-in ceremony, President Rajapaksa stressed that the masses gave an overwhelming majority to the Government with much expectations and they need to be accomplished to fulfill the people’s aspirations.

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Constitutional reforms first priority

The Government’s first priority will be to add reforms to the Constitution to accelerate development programs as mentioned in the Mahinda Chinthana Idiri Dekma policy program, SLFP General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena said. Changes to the proportional representation electoral system will be brought to create opportunities for voters to elect their representative from their own electorates, he added.

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Old and new faces in new Cabinet

The first post war Cabinet was sworn in before President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday. Thirty seven UPFA members including Senior Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa and NFF Leader Wimal Weerawansa are included in the Cabinet.

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D M, son of the soil

New Prime Minister D M Jayaratne fondly called Dimu by his friends, the 14th since independence in 1948 hails from Doluwa, Gampola is essentially a son of the soil. Jayaratne started his political career as an SLFP member of the Gangapalatha Village Committee, Gampola more than four decades back. He was one of the founder members of the SLFP and has been with the party ever since. He understood problems of the Kandyan peasantry and fought hard to regain their lost rights from the very beginning of his political career.

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