Lankan PM calls for bipartisanship; 4 ministers inducted into Cabinet

Colombo, May 14

Advertisement

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Saturday appointed four members of the ruling party to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Cabinet, including GL Peiris as the Foreign Minister, even as the premier called for bipartisanship to tackle the island’s crippling economic crisis.

Dinesh Gunawardena has been sworn in as the Minister of Public administration, Peiris as the Foreign Minister, Prasanna Ranatunga as the Minister of Urban Development and housing and Kanchana Wijesekara as the Minister of Power and Energy, the Daily Mirror, an online news portal reported.

Peiris was also the Foreign Minister in the former Mahinda Rajapaksa-led Cabinet.

Government sources said Wickremesinghe’s Cabinet was expected to be limited to under 20, the report said.

Sri Lanka’s ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party has decided to offer crucial support to Wickremesinghe, who has just one seat in Parliament, to help him prove a majority in the House. Most of the opposition parties in Sri Lanka announced that they would not be joining the interim government led by Wickremesinghe. The 73-year-old UNP leader was appointed PM on Thursday. — PTI

SLPP decides to back PM

Sri Lanka’s ruling SLPP party has decided to offer crucial support to new PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has just one seat in Parliament, to help him prove a majority in the House. “We have political differences with him, but he is known as someone with international support to pull this country out of the economic problems we are facing,” SM Chandrasena, a senior leader of ruling SLPP party. PTI

Lanka to get 65K MT of urea from India

Colombo: India has assured Sri Lanka to immediately supply 65,000 metric tonnes of urea to avoid any disruption in paddy cultivation in this country. High Commissioner of Sri Lanka in New Delhi Milinda Moragoda met the Secretary of the Department of Fertilisers Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi in New Delhi on Thursday.