Colombo
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa swore in nine new ministers on Friday in an effort to ensure stability until a full Cabinet is formed in the debt-ridden island nation engulfed in the worst economic crisis since its independence.
The ministers were sworn in after a delay of more than a week since the president appointed new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Rajapaksa reappointed five-time former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, after his predecessor – the president’s brother Mahinda Rajapaksa – resigned in the wake of violent attacks by his supporters on peaceful anti-government protesters.
His resignation automatically dissolved the Cabinet, leaving an administrative vacuum.
The new ministers include two from the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), while the rest come from Rajapaksa’s own Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and from the group which had resigned from the ruling coalition.
President Rajapaksa had appointed four ministers last week.
Still, no finance minister has been appointed which is significant in the wake of ongoing negotiations with the IMF for a possible bail out.
The Cabinet will be limited to 25 members, including the President and the Prime Minister, according to media reports.
