Prez swears in 1st cabinet members

SRI LANKA’S ECONOMIC WOES HAVE BROUGHT ON A POLITICAL CRISIS, WITH THE GOVT FACING WIDESPREAD PROTESTS FOR SEVERAL WEEKS

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Saturday named the first ministers of a “unity” government tasked with rescuing the country from its crippling economic crisis, but which has failed to secure opposition support.

PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, appointed on Thursday, has attempted to put together a cross-party coalition that can begin mending the island nation’s decimated finances.

But opposition parties have called his premiership illegitimate and some lawmakers have demanded fresh elections.

Wickremesinghe has instead been forced to rely on the support of lawmakers allied to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, whose administration is blamed by many for leading Sri Lanka’s economy to the brink of collapse.

Rajapaksa’s office announced the appointment of four ministers on Saturday including Gamini Peiris, who returns to the foreign ministry just days after losing his job when the previous cabinet was dissolved.

Peiris and the other three appointees - for public administration, urban development and energy - are all members of Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party.

The all-important finance ministry post remains vacant at a time when Sri Lanka is in negotiations for a much-needed International Monetary Fund bailout.

Earlier on Saturday, legislators from the SLPP held a closeddoor meeting where they resolved to support the new PM. The main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and four other parties have refused to support the government while Rajapaksa remains president.

Huge public demonstrations have for weeks condemned the president over his administration’s mismanagement and alleged corruption.

Hundreds remain outside his seafront office in the capital Colombo at a protest camp.