New Cabinet sworn in

Nine Senior Ministers, 49 Cabinet Ministers, 31 Deputy Ministers :

Chaminda Perera

A 60 member Cabinet of Ministers including nine senior Ministers who will elevate the nation into a new era of development and prosperity were sworn before President Mahinda Rajapaksa at a simple ceremony at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday.

The new Cabinet of Ministers were appointed by President Rajapaksa two days after the inauguration of his second term of office to give impetus to the country’s development drive. President Rajapaksa swore in the new Cabinet of Ministers among the fresh hope that the country would be taken to new heights by the Government led by the President after bringing peace to the country within four years of his first term.

Eighteen members of Parliament were sworn in as new Cabinet Ministers yesterday. Most of them were Deputy Ministers before being appointed as Cabinet Ministers. Former Deputy Ministers T B Ekanayake and Salinda Dissanayake who represent the Kurunegala district were appointed as Culture and Arts Minister and Indigenous Medicine Minister. Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Leader and one time Cabinet Minister Rauff Hakeem took oaths as the Justice Minister while former UNP parliamentarian Lakshman Seneviratne became the Productivity Promotion Minister.

Ratnapura District parliamentarian Vasudeva Nanayakkara was appointed National Languages and Social Integration Minister. Nanayakkara first entered the legislature in 1970 from the LSSP ticket from the Kiriella electorate in the Ratnapura district.

A leading lawyer and trade union activist, Nanayakkara contested the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) in 2006 and became the CMC’s Opposition Leader. Former Finance and Planning Deputy Minister and Communist Party Stalwart Chandrasiri Gajadeera took oaths before the President as Rehabilitation and Prisons Reforms Minister.

He succeeded Minister D E W Gunasekera. Former Deputy Minister and one time Chief Minister of Western Provincial Council Reginold Cooray was appointed Minor Export Crop Promotion Minister.

Former Highways Deputy Minister and one time Media Deputy Minister Dr Mervyn Silva was appointed Public Relations and Public Affairs Minister.\

Prime Minister D M Jayaratne was also sworn in as Buddhasasana and Religious Affairs Minister.