COLOMBO, Aug 12 — Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa named two more relatives to a new government unveiled today, further consolidating his family’s grip on power.His brother Mahinda will lead the government, formed after their nationalist party’s landslide win in a parliamentary election last week.Gotabaya and Mahinda will control the key defence and finance portfolios, respectively, in the new 26-member cabinet.Their elder brother Chamal kept his place in the cabinet and was joined by Mahinda’s eldest son, Namal, who was named sports minister.The growing dynastic imprint was strengthened by one of their nephews, Shasheendra Rajapaksa, who joined the government as a state agriculture minister though he will not be in the cabinet.Gotabaya Rajapaksa, 71, became president in November last year and named Mahinda, a 74-year-old former president, as prime minister.Pursuing a nationalist agenda, their party has won a two-thirds majority in parliament, which allows them to change the constitution and tighten their hold on power.The brothers want to scrap a 2015 constitutional amendment which transferred some executive powers from the president to the prime minister, along with independent institutions to run public services and the judiciary.In the new cabinet, Mahinda was given three portfolios—finance, culture and housing—while their eldest brother Chamal, 77, was given irrigation, a powerful position in largely rural Sri Lanka.Chamal was also made the state minister for defence, a non-cabinet position responsible for internal security and disaster management.The swearing-in of ministers was carried out at the Temple of the Tooth, the holiest Buddhist shrine, in the presence of saffron-robed monks and other guests in Kandy, 115 kilometres east of Colombo.The venue was carefully chosen to reinforce the Rajapaksa family’s appeal to their majority Sinhala-Buddhist constituency.The president took his oath after his November landslide in front of a pagoda built by a legendary Sinhala king known to have vanquished a rival from the minority Tamil community.Mahinda was sworn in as Prime Minister on Sunday at the Kelaniya temple which Buddhists in Sri Lanka believe to have been visited by the Buddha himself. ... Asia Aug 15th 2020 edition.
Counting of votes began early on Thursday, and the final tally is expected by midnight. ... 7 August 2020. The tourism-dependent nation of 21 million people has been struggling since deadly Islamist militant attacks on hotels and churches last year followed by lockdowns to slow the spread of the coronavirus. A police officer stands guard in front of a counting center on the following day of the country's parliamentary election in Colombo, Sri Lanka, August 6, 2020. Presidential Secretariat Galle Face Center Road Colombo 1 Sri Lanka +94 (0) 112354354 +94 (0) 11 2340340 ps@presidentsoffice.lk The 98th Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka Malay Association was held on Sunday July 26, 2020 at the Padang, Colombo 2 among a large gathering of members.Soekarno Tunku Ousmand was re-elected President for the second consecutive year.The SLMA, the premier Malay organisation in the country established in 1922, has continued to focus on enhancing the Sri Lankan Malay Share this with Facebook; ... Sri Lanka's powerful new president .
The victory for the Sri Lanka People's Front seals the Rajapaksa brothers' grip on power. (File photo |AFP) By AFP. He was the 18th Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy and was decorated for gallantry and commended for exceptional service to the navy. There are in all 22 districts. Sri Lanka president strengthens Rajapaksa dynasty in new government Wednesday, 12 Aug 2020 05:50 PM MYT Gotabaya Rajapaksa's brother Mahinda will lead the government, formed after their nationalist party’s landslide win in a parliamentary election last week. Early counting showed that the Rajapaksas, who have long championed the cause of the island’s Sinhalese Buddhist majority, were on track to win 70% of the vote in the Sinhalese-dominated south. Sri Lanka PM and president’s party wins ‘super majority’ that will allow them to carry out constitutional changes His party won a landslide victory in the country’s election. 25 November 2019. 12 Aug 2020 12:22 GMT.
Banyan Sri Lanka is becoming a one-family state.
Close to 70% of eligible Sri Lankans voted in Wednesday’s election to the 225-member parliament, shrugging off their fears of the coronavirus.
The brothers are best known for crushing the Tamil Tiger rebels fighting for a separate homeland for minority Tamils during the elder Rajapaksa’s presidency in 2009.
Published: 17th August 2020 07:32 PM | Last Updated: 17th August 2020 07:32 PM | A+ A A-Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa was born on 20 th June 1949 to former Cabinet Minister D. A. Rajapaksa and Dandina Dissanayake Rajapaksa.
Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Podujana Party (SLPP) was leading in nine out of 13 electoral districts from which early counting trends were available, the information department said.
A police officer stands guard in front of a counting center on the following day of the country's parliamentary election in Colombo, Sri Lanka, August 6, 2020. Profile of His Excellency Gotabaya Rajapaksa, 7 th Executive President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka .