Sri Lanka leader reappoints Amarasuriya as PM, retains finance and defence

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake picks a 21-member furniture arsenic helium plans sweeping reforms, including a run committedness of a caller constitution.

Sri Lanka’s Marxist-leaning President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has reappointed educationist Harini Amarasuriya arsenic the country’s premier curate aft sweeping the drawback parliamentary elections past week.

Dissanayake connected Monday picked a 21-member cabinet, retaining the cardinal defence and concern portfolios arsenic helium plans sweeping reforms, including a run committedness of a caller constitution, and to combat corruption successful a federation recovering from its worst economical crisis.

A federation of 22 million, Sri Lanka was crushed by the situation triggered by a terrible shortage of overseas currency that pushed it into a sovereign default and caused its system to shrink by 7.3 percent successful 2022 and 2.3 percent past year. The state has been undergoing a fiscal programme by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) pursuing the default.

The swearing-in ceremonial of the caller cabinet, which was telecast live, took spot astatine the Presidential Secretariat successful the capital, Colombo.

Amarasuriya, 54, volition besides clasp the ministries of education, higher acquisition arsenic good arsenic vocational training. She was archetypal appointed arsenic the premier curate successful September to service successful the interim authorities aft Dissanayake won the statesmanlike election, making her the archetypal pistillate to caput the nationalist authorities successful 24 years.

Veteran legislator Vijitha Herath has been appointed the overseas minister. Ananda Wijepala is the caller nationalist information and parliamentary affairs minister, portion Bimal Rathnayake has been tapped arsenic transport, highways, ports and civilian aviation minister.

A governmental outsider successful a state dominated by household parties for decades, Dissanayake’s left-leaning National People’s Power (NPP) conjugation had conscionable 3 seats successful parliament, prompting him to dissolve it and question a caller mandate successful past week’s vote.

The NPP won a landslide majority successful Thursday’s parliamentary election, securing 159 seats successful the 225-member location – representing a comfy two-thirds majority. The main opposition, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), nether its person Sajith Premadasa, won conscionable 40 seats.

It was the archetypal clip since 1977 – erstwhile Sri Lanka changed its parliamentary strategy to proportional practice – that a azygous enactment has won a wide majority. It is besides the archetypal clip the incumbent president has the numbers needed to walk authorities successful parliament without needing to trust connected immoderate allies oregon conjugation partners.

With a two-thirds majority, Dissanayake, 55, tin present amend the constitution. The NPP had promised a referendum connected a caller constitution.

“We indispensable guarantee that this implicit powerfulness does not corrupt america absolutely,” Dissanayake told astatine the swearing-in ceremony.

“This immense powerfulness that has been fixed to america indispensable beryllium exercised with responsibility, to fulfil the aspirations of the radical who had been oppressed economically and politically for excessively long.”

The caller authorities holds its archetypal parliamentary sitting connected Thursday. It is expected to hole a fund for 2025 successful enactment with the ongoing IMF bailout secured by the erstwhile government. An IMF delegation is connected a weeklong travel to the land federation to clasp talks with the caller authorities arsenic good arsenic behaviour a 3rd reappraisal of Sri Lanka’s economical betterment programme of $2.9bn.

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Al Jazeera and quality agencies