Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa named two more relatives to a new government unveiled Wednesday, 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.
Leave a Comment