Sri Lankan president appoints 4 ministers to new cabinet
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s president swore in four new cabinet ministers on Saturday in an effort to ensure stability until a full cabinet is formed in the country engulfed in a political and economic crisis.
The appointment of four ministers came two days after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa reappointed fivetime former Sri Lankan prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, after his predecessor — the president’s brother Mahinda Rajapaksa — resigned on Monday following violent attacks by his supporters on peaceful anti-government protesters.
His resignation automatically dissolved the cabinet, leaving an administrative vacuum.
The new appointments are Dinesh Gunawardena as minister of public administration, G.L. Peiris as minister of foreign affairs, Prasanna Ranatunga as minister of urban development, and Kanchana Wijesekera as minister of power and energy, according to the President’s media division.
Senior political officials said more ministers will be appointed as the president and prime minister are urging all political parties to join to form a national government to tackle the political and economic instability in the country.
The appointments also come as Sri Lanka lifted a nationwide curfew for 12 hours on Saturday, further easing tight curbs. More than a month of predominantly peaceful protests against the government turned violent last week.
In initial violence and reprisals against the government, nine were killed and more than 300 were injured.
Hit hard by the pandemic, rising oil prices and tax cuts by the populist government, Sri Lanka is in the throes of its worst economic crisis since independence from Great Britain in 1948.
Usable foreign reserves have dwindled, and rampant inflation and shortages of fuel have brought thousands onto the streets in protest.
The government lifted the curfew from 6 am on Saturday until 6 pm. A 24-hour curfew imposed last Monday had been lifted for a few hours on Thursday and Friday to allow the purchase of essential supplies.
The Indian Ocean island nation is on the brink of bankruptcy and has suspended repayment of its foreign loans pending negotiations on a rescue package with the International Monetary Fund.
It needs to repay $7 billion in foreign debt this year out of $25 billion due by 2026. Its total foreign debt is $51 billion. The Finance Ministry said the country now has only $25 million in usable foreign reserves.