Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appoints 38 new ministers

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa expanded his new Cabinet by appointing 35 state ministers and three deputy ministers on November 27. The Cabinet, however, does not include representatives from the Muslim and the Tamil minorities. The newly formed Cabinet will be responsible for the country's governance until the next parliamentary elections to be held next year. 

Expansion of the new Cabinet

Chamal Rajapaksa, who was part of the initial 16 member Cabinet has been appointed by the President as the new Minister of State for Defence. On the other hand, the President's nephew, Namal Rajapaksa and Mahinda Rajapaksa, son of Prime Minister were not allotted any position in the Cabinet. The new 38 member Cabinet consists of no representative from the Tamil and Muslim minorities. Also, the Cabinet lacks a women representative. However, the previous 16-member Cabinet included two Tamils and a woman. While announcing the Cabinet  

Gotabaya Rajapaksa said, “These positions should not be treated as privileges, these are all positions to fulfill our manifesto promises and implement our work for the betterment of people.”

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Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s administration is a minority Government that will further compete in the upcoming parliamentary elections. The parliamentary elections are expected to take place in April. 

President Rajapaksa to travel to India 

Newly-elected Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will travel to India on November 29 on the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said. Jaishankar made the announcement after meeting Rajapaksa, who was sworn in as the country's new President on Monday. Jaishankar took to Twitter to confirm the development, after the meeting which came hours after President Rajapaksa assumed the office.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday telephoned Sri Lanka's then-President-elect Gotabaya Rajapaksa to congratulate him on his electoral win and invited him to visit India. Rajapaksa stormed to victory in Sri Lanka's presidential elections. The Lankan leader thanked the Prime Minister for his good wishes and expressed his readiness to work with India very closely to ensure development and security, the Prime Minister's Office said in a series of tweets.

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