President names brother as PM
COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has appointed his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa, who forged close ties with Beijing during his 10-year rule, as the island’s new prime minister.
Mahinda Rajapaksa was sworn in yesterday, a day after Ranil Wickremesinghe quit following his candidate’s loss in the country’s bitterly contested presidential poll. Mr Wickremesinghe said he was resigning to allow for the appointment of his replacement and the establishment of a new government, although the coalition led by his United
National Party still holds a majority in parliament.
Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party has been calling for a snap parliamentary election, which is not due until after February. The constitution allows the option of a vote on the dissolution of parliament with the backing of two-thirds of lawmakers in order to call early general elections.
The former defence secretary made national security his key campaign platform, riding the tide of disillusionment that grew after the Easter Sunday attacks that killed more than 250 people, highlighting the security failures of the present government.
He also promised sweeping tax cuts and offered more subsidies for farmers.
During his decade in power, Mr Mahinda borrowed heavily from Beijing to fund infrastructure projects after the war ended. One of them, a port in southern Hambantota, lost money and was eventually sold to a state-owned Chinese firm by the current government in a much-criticised debt-to-equity swap on a 99-year lease.