Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Sunday carried out the
first reshuffle of the cabinet since he assumed office in November
2005 to accommodate dissidents of the main opposition United
National Party (UNP).
The new cabinet composed of 52 members was sworn in before the
president at the presidential secretariat, said a statement of the
president's office.
"The new cabinet of ministers will include 10 members from the
opposition UNP who have crossed over to the government," said the
statement.
The former deputy leader of the UNP, Karu Jayasuriya, was sworn
in as minister of Public Administration and Home Affairs.
The leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), Rauff Hakeem
also took his oaths as minister of Posts and
Telecommunications.
The incumbent Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera was removed
from his post, but he continued to hold his cabinet position as
minister of Ports and Aviation.
The new foreign minister is Rohitha Bogollagama who himself had
crossed over from the UNP in 2004.
President Rajapaksa retained his portfolios of Defence, Public
Security, Law and Order, Religious Affairs, Finance and Planning,
and Nation Building.
Analysts say Rajapakse wants opposition legislators to join him
in view of the decision by the main left party the JVP, or the
People's Liberation Front, to stay out of the government.
The JVP has 38 legislators in the ruling alliance's current
strength of 126 members in the 225-legislator parliament.
The JVP is unhappy with Rajapakse government's policy of
tryingto negotiate with the Tamil Tigers in the separatist armed
conflict.
Rajapakse's recent military successes against the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are hailed by the main left party and
they want the military campaign against the rebels continued.
Rajapakse has enticed the UNP members to join him despite his
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the UNP leader Ranil
Wickremesinghe signed in October last year.
The MOU bound the two parties over a period of two years for
coo-operation, foremost among them is the Norwegian backed peace
process with the LTTE in 2002.
(Xinhua News Agency January 29, 2007)
