News

Prez takes defence

Published

6 years ago

2020/08/13

Sahan Weerasooriya

SLPP bags lion’s share of ministries

Ex-president Sirisena an ordinary MP

Newcomer Sabry receives justice portfolio

Four members of Rajapaksa family in Cabinet

Wijeyadasa rejects state ministry

Former TNA MP now a state minister

Several Viyathmaga members made ministers

By Shamindra Ferdinando

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces yesterday (12) took the defence portfolio although the 19th Amendment to the Constitution bars the President from holding any portfolio.

The 19th Amendment enacted in early 2015 repealed Article 44 (2), which enabled the President to hold any number of portfolios.

President Rajapaksa refrained from assuming defence portfolio when he appointed a smaller interim Cabinet last November in the run-up to the Aug 5 parliamentary election.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa was among 25 ministers who took oaths before President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the Magul Maduwa of Dalada Maligawa. In addition to them, 40 received appointments as State Ministers.

The President’s Office on Monday (10) issued a gazette notification with a list of 28 ministries and 40 state ministries.

Of those who had received cabinet portfolios, 17 represent the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). Other ministries were shared by SLFP 2 (Nimal Siripala de Silva and Mahinda Amaraweera), MEP (Dinesh Gunawardena), EPDP (Douglas Devananda), NFF (Wimal Weerawansa), DLF (Vasudeva Nanayakkara) and PHU (Udaya Prabath Gammanpila).

Among the Cabinet of ministers were two members SLPP National List members, Prof. G. L. Peiris, Chairman of the party and Ali Sabry, PC.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa accommodated Sabry in his Cabinet as the Justice Minister.

The Cabinet includes four Rajapaksas, the President (Defence), the Prime Minister (Finance, Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs and Urban Development and Housing), Chamal Rajapaksa (Irrigation) and Namal Rajapaksa (Youth Affairs and Sports). In addition to them, Shasheendra Rajapaksa received appointment as State Minister of Paddy and Cereals, Organic Food, Vegetables, Fruits, Chillies, Onions and Potatoes, Seed Production and High Tech Agriculture.

Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapaksa, PC, declined to accept post of a State Minister as he expected a Cabinet portfolio. Wijeyadasa Rajapaksa contested the recently-concluded general election from Colombo on the SLPP ticket after switching his allegiance to President Rajapaksa. He entered Parliament on the UNP ticket at the previous general election.

One-time Justice Minister was not available for comment.

Chamal Rajapaksa, in addition to being the minister of irrigation, took oaths as State Minister for Internal Security, Home Affairs and Disaster Management. The police come under him. One-time Speaker was the only one to hold both State and cabinet portfolios.

Many an eyebrow was raised when the swearing in ceremony concluded without former President and leader of the SLFP Maithripala Sirisena, who had arrived at the swearing-in ceremony a bit late, not receiving a portfolio. Having contested the general election on the SLPP ticket except Jaffna and Kalutara, the SLFP obtained 13 seats. In addition to the elected, the SLFP secured one National List slot (Dr. Suren Raghavan). The SLFP on its own won one seat in the Jaffna electoral district (Angajan Ramanathan).

In addition to the two Cabinet ministries received by the SLFP, SLFP General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekera and two others, Duminda Dissanayake and Lasantha Alagiyawanna were sworn in as State Ministers.

Deputy Leader of the NFF Jayantha Samaraweera, who contested from Kalutara on the SLPP ticket was among the State Ministers. Sons of former Prime Ministers, the late Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka and the late D. M. Jayaratne, Vidura and Anuradha, respectively, too, received appointments as State Ministers.

President Rajapaksa accommodated several elected Viyathmaga members among the State Ministers and Chairpersons of District Coordinating Committees. Eight out of nine candidates fielded by the civil society group Viyathmaga entered Parliament. Of them, retired Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera, Dr. Nalaka Godahewa and Prof. Channa Jayasumana were named State Ministers. In addition to them, two Viyathmaga National List members, former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal and Dr. Seetha Arambepola were accommodated among the group of State Ministers.

Three other Viyathmaga members, Dr. Upul Galappaththi (Hambantota), Nalaka Bandara Kottegoda (Matale) and Gunapala Ratnasekera (Kurunegala) were named Chairpersons of District Coordinating Committees.

Former Tamil National Alliance dissident Sadasivam Viyalendran (Batticaloa) was sworn in as State Minister for postal services development and mass media.

Jeewan Thondaman, son of the late Arumugam Thondaman, CWC leader, was named estate housing and community infrastructure facilities state minister.

Nipuna, son of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s sister was among 23 Chairpersons of District Coordinating Committees.

Former ministers and State Ministers, LSSP Chief Prof. Tissa Vitharana, S. B. Dissanayake, Susil Premjayantha, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Mahinda Samarasinghe, Jihn Seneviratne, Chandima Weerakkody, Dilan Perera, Rohana Dissanayake, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, K.K. Masthan, Angajan Ramanathan and Dushyantha Mithrapala were among those left out. Communist Party National List MP, too, wasn’t accommodated in the Cabinet.

The SLPP won a staggering 145 seats out of 225-member Parliament. The breakaway UNP faction, the Samagi Jana Balavegaya secured 54 seats whereas the UNP, the TNA and the JVP led Jathika Jana Balavegaya won 01, 10 and 03 seats, respectively.

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Landslide Early Warnings issued to the districts of Kandy and Nuwara Eliya extended

Published

12 hours ago

2026/02/14

Priyan

The landslide early warnings issued to the Districts of Kandy and Nuwara Eliya by the Landslide Early Warning Center of the National Building Research Organisation have been extended till 0600 hrs on 15th February 2026.

Accordingly,
The Level II [AMBER] warnings issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Walapane and Nildandahinna in the Nuwar Eliya district and the
Level I [YELLOW] warning issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Pathadumbara in the Kandy district have been extended.

Latest News

Advisory for Severe Lightning issued to the Western, Sabaragamuwa and Southern provinces and Badulla and Nuwara-Eliya districts

Published

13 hours ago

2026/02/14

Priyan

Advisory for Severe Lightning Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre at 11.30 a.m. 14 February 2026 valid for the period until 11.30 p.m. 14 February 2026

Thundershowers accompanied with severe lightning are likely to occur at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and Southern provinces and in Badulla and Nuwara-Eliya districts after 1.00 p.m. There may be temporary localized strong winds during thundershowers.

The General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by lightning activity.

ACTION REQUIRED:

The Department of Meteorology advises that people should:
 Seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees.
 Avoid open areas such as paddy fields, tea plantations and open water bodies during thunderstorms.
 Avoid using wired telephones and connected electric appliances during thunderstorms.
 Avoid using open vehicles, such as bicycles, tractors and boats etc.
 Beware of fallen trees and power lines.
 For emergency assistance contact the local disaster management authorities.

Latest News

Teacher recruitment examinations will be conducted in accordance with the relevant court decisions – PM

Published

23 hours ago

2026/02/14

Priyan

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that the forthcoming two teacher recruitment examinations will be conducted in accordance with the relevant court decisions pertaining to the ongoing legal proceedings and further noted that, taking into consideration the requests received, steps have been taken to make a request to Court’s approval to revise the conditions of the effective date of degree completion.

The Prime Minister made these remarks while addressing a meeting held at Monaragala Royal College to brief education authorities of the Monaragala District on the new education reforms.

Under the new education reforms, Smart Boards will be provided to 132 schools in the Monaragala District as part of the program to equip secondary schools with modern technology. As a symbolic step under this initiative, Smart Boards were presented to 10 secondary schools under the Prime Minister’s patronage. This program is being implemented with the intervention of the Digital Task Force operating under the Prime Minister’s Office. It was also emphasized that a new digital policy, formulated with special attention to child protection, will be introduced in April.

As part of her visit to the Monaragala District on the 13 th of February, the Prime Minister observed the implementation of the new learning methodologies introduced for Grade One under the new education reforms. She visited Kumbukkana Sri Shanmugam Tamil Maha Vidyalaya and Maduruketiya Maha Vidyalaya in Monaragala to observe the educational activities of Grade One students.

Considering the increase of student numbers and the development of infrastructure facilities, the Prime Minister also approved a proposal submitted by the School Development Society to rename Maduruketiya Maha Vidyalaya as Monaragala Dharmaraja Maha Vidyalaya.

Teachers briefed the Prime Minister that the new education system, supported by revised workbooks and activity-based learning methods, has proven to be effective, with students participating enthusiastically.

Addressing education officials further at the meeting held at Monaragala Royal College, the Prime Minister stated:

“Although this will not provide a complete solution to the existing teacher vacancies, these examinations can offer considerable relief. According to the Court’s previous determination, the effective date of degree completion had been set as 30.06.2025. However, considering numerous requests and following the cabinet approval we have sought Court’s consent to revise this date. We will act in accordance with the decision granted.

Funds allocated for school infrastructure must be utilized transparently and in line with proper planning, and progress must be reported accordingly. We cannot move forward by dividing ourselves along national, provincial, rural, or urban lines. As education authorities, you must make swift and accurate decisions based on correct data.

Further, discussions are already underway within the Piriven Committee of the Ministry of Education to develop Piriven education and to address the issues faced by Piriven teachers.”

The event was attended by the members of the Maha Sangha, Uva Province Governor Attorney-at-Law Kapila Jayasekara, Deputy Minister of Trade and Commerce R.M. Jayawardhana, Member of Parliament Ajith Agalakada, Uva Provincial Education Secretary Nihal Gunarathne, and several officials from the education sector.