Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa swore in 8 new cabinet ministers on Monday but has kept himself as minister of finance as he continued to defy calls to resign from anti-government protestors.
Since the appointment of Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister earlier this month, Rajapaksa has now appointed a total of 10 new ministers.
However, as Sri Lanka faces its worst economic crisis in living memory and is in the midst of bailout discussions with the International Monetary Fund, Rajapaksa continues to hold the finance portfolio.
His previous appointment Ali Sabry, a staunch Rajapaksa loyalist, quit just weeks into the job. “I will never look at this Parliament again, I do not need it,” he said last week. “I will never come back again,” he lashed out at the House.
See the newly sworn in ministers below.
Douglas Devananda: Minister of Fisheries
Bandula Gunawardena: Minister of Transport & Highways, and Mass Media
Keheliya Rambukwella: Minister of Water Supply
Mahinda Amaraweera: Minister of Agriculture, and Forest Resources and Wildlife
Ramesh Pathirana: Minister of Industries
Vidura Wickramanayake: Minister of Buddhashasana, Religious, and Cultural Affairs
Ahamed Naseer: Minister of Environment
Roshan Ranasinghe: Minister of Irrigation, and Sports and Youth Affairs
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