Colombo
Sri Lanka’s new Cabinet will be sworn in today (Monday), following the National People’s Power (NPP) party’s historic victory in the parliamentary elections held earlier this week. The swearing-in ceremony will take place at 10:00 AM at the Presidential Secretariat, in the presence of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the President’s Media Division announced on Sunday.
The NPP, led by Dissanayake, secured a resounding victory, winning a two-thirds majority in Parliament. The party not only dominated the polls but also made significant inroads into the Jaffna district, which is home to the nation’s Tamil minority. This victory marks a major milestone for the NPP, which had already won the presidential election in September with a slim cabinet of just three ministers, including the President.
The new Parliament, which will convene for its first session on November 21, will feature a smaller government, a core principle of the NPP’s platform aimed at reducing public costs. According to the Sri Lankan Constitution, the Cabinet will consist of no more than 30 ministers, with a maximum of 40 deputy ministers.
The NPP’s victory is historic for several reasons. It won 61.56% of the total vote share, surpassing the previous record set by Mahinda Rajapaksa’s party in 2010. Additionally, the NPP secured 159 parliamentary seats, the highest in the country’s history, and became the first party to achieve a two-thirds majority under Sri Lanka’s proportional representation system.
