Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday named two of his relatives to the new cabinet, further consolidating his family’s grip.
The 26 cabinet members include four members of the Rajapaksa family with the president holding the Ministry of Defense, while his older brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, is in charge of the Ministries of Finance, Urban Development and Buddhist Affairs.
Eldest brother Chamal Rajapaksa is Minister of Irrigation and while Mahinda’s son Namal Rajapaksa is the Minister of Youth and Sports.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, 71, became president in November last year and named Mahinda, a 74-year-old former president, as prime minister.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the Minister of Defense under the presidency of Mahinda Rajapaksa, in which the government defeated the Tamil rebels, ending nearly three decades of conflict.
The party of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) – led by the Rajapaksas – won 145 of the 225 seats in parliament.
The party secured nearly 60 percent, or more than 6.85 million, of the total valid votes, well ahead of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) party, which came in second with 54 seats.
Voting in the general election was held last week on Wednesday to elect Sri Lanka’s ninth parliament.
The Mahinda-led cabinet is expected to hold its first meeting on Thursday to discuss proposals for constitutional changes and the new budget.
The brothers
The growing dynastic imprint was reinforced by one of her cousins, Shasheendra Rajapaksa, who served in the government as Minister of Agriculture, although he will not be in the Cabinet.
President Rajapaksa also appointed his lawyer as Minister of Justice.
Ali Sabry appeared before Gotabaya when he faced lawsuits over corruption as a top defense bureaucrat during Mahinda Rajapaksa’s time as president.
Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa send during the inauguration ceremony at the Kelaniya Buddhist temple in Colombo [Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters]
By following a nationalist agenda, their party has won a two-thirds majority in parliament, allowing them to change the constitution and retain their power.
The brothers want to scrap a 2015 constitutional amendment that transferred some executive powers from the president to the prime minister, along with independent institutions to perform public services and the judiciary.
Ministerial engagement was held at the Temple of the Tooth, the holiest Buddhist shrine, in the presence of saffron-robbed monks and other guests in Kandy, 115 kilometers (71 miles) east of Colombo.
The place was carefully chosen to strengthen the appeal of the Rajapaksa family to its majority Sinhala Buddhist constituency.
The president took his oath after his land collapse in November for a pagoda built by a legendary Sinhala king, known for overcoming a rival from the minority Tamil community.
Mahinda was confirmed on Sunday as prime minister at the Kelaniya temple that Buddhists believe in Sri Lanka have been visited by the Buddha himself.
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