Wickremesinghe expands his Cabinet to include all political parties
Wickremesinghe expands his Cabinet to include all political parties
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Sri Lanka's newly elected President Ranil Wickremesinghe is likely to expand his Cabinet to include all opposition parties in the administration, a  senior official said.

Wickremesinghe named an 18-member Cabinet on Friday, including Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena. Tourism Minister Harin Fernando echoed Wickremesinghe's comments to local media after taking the oath on Friday, saying the President is likely to expand the Cabinet to make it reflective of all parties in Parliament.  He did not, however, provide a timetable.

According to government sources, the next interim President will take steps to accommodate all opposition parties in government.  Sri Lankan parliamentarians elected Wickremesinghe as the country's new president on Thursday, with the bulk of votes coming from members affiliated with deposed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).

Only two non-SLPP legislators were selected to the Cabinet on Friday. As per the constitution, the Cabinet can be expanded to include up to 30 members. Meanwhile, the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawega SJB has urged that Gunawardena convene Parliament on July 25 to investigate the alleged state violence against protestors.

In a pre-dawn operation, Sri Lankan army and police armed with assault rifles and batons forcibly removed anti-government demonstrators camped outside the presidential office here.

The pre-dawn raid on the biggest anti-government demonstration camp has been described by police as a "special operation to retake control of the presidential secretariat."  After capturing the President and Prime Minister's mansions and the Prime Minister's office on July 9, the demonstrators abandoned them, but they remained in several rooms of the President's secretariat. They also refused to recognise Wickremesinghe as the country's new president, blaming him for the country's unparalleled economic and political catastrophe.

New Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena sworn in

New president of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe, sworn in

Ranil Wickremesinghe elected as next president of Sri Lanka

 

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