Anura keeps defence, finance in S Lanka cabinet

Leftist leader confirms his interim cabinet colleagues will keep their portfolios

COLOMBO:

Sri Lanka President Anura Kumara Dissanayake retained the key defence and finance portfolios in a new cabinet he announced Monday after sweeping snap parliamentary elections last week.

The leftist leader, who won the September presidential election, confirmed his interim cabinet colleagues -- Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya and Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath -- would keep their portfolios.

Dissanayake's decision to call polls nearly 10 months ahead of schedule and secure legislative backing for his agenda was vindicated when his National People's Power (NPP) won 159 seats in the 225-member assembly.

The more than two-thirds majority is the biggest any party has won since the South Asian nation introduced proportional representation under a 1978 constitution.

"We must ensure that this absolute power does not corrupt us absolutely," Dissanayake told the new 22-member cabinet at a nationally televised ceremony.

"This huge power that has been given to us must be exercised with responsibility, to fulfil the aspirations of the people who had been oppressed economically and politically for too long."

The new government holds its first parliamentary sitting on Thursday.

It is expected to prepare a budget for 2025 in line with an ongoing International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout secured by the previous government.

Dissanayake told a visiting IMF delegation that he wanted the international lender of last resort to "maintain a balanced approach" in dealing with the bankrupt nation. AFP