{"id":150196,"date":"2015-09-04T15:37:10","date_gmt":"2015-09-04T10:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=150196"},"modified":"2015-09-04T16:46:56","modified_gmt":"2015-09-04T11:16:56","slug":"new-cabinet-appointed-president-sirisena-admits-fracas-over-portfolios","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/new-cabinet-appointed-president-sirisena-admits-fracas-over-portfolios\/","title":{"rendered":"New Cabinet Appointed; President Sirisena Admits Fracas Over Portfolios"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Maithripala Sirisena<\/span><\/a> today publicly admitted that there had been disagreements when assigning ministerial portfolios in the new national government formed between the UNP and SLFP.<\/p>\n

Addressing a section of the new cabinet of ministers who took oaths today Sirisena said that even when the UPFA had an outright majority in parliament earlier there had been many a dispute when assigning ministerial portfolios.<\/p>\n

\"Sajith\"<\/a>If so Sirisena said one could imagine the difficulties he and the Premier had to face when disbursing ministerial portfolios among the UNP and SLFP factions in the new national government.<\/p>\n

Sirisena’s attempts to play down the number of portfolios which the UNP had got (33) clearly indicated that there had been strenous bragaining on the part of the SLFP to get more miniterial posts for their side.<\/p>\n

The President stressed on numbers in an obvious move to appease the SLFP members saying although UNP had got 33 ministerial portfolios, 7 of them had been assigned to members from affiliated parties such as Patalika Champika Ranawaka, Arjuna Ranataunga, M.K.D.S.Gunewardene, Rauf Hakeem, etc.<\/p>\n

President Sirisena pointing out to the above figures said that actually the UNP had recived only 26 ministerial portfolios.<\/p>\n

Sirisena said that SLFP side will have 15 cabinet ministerial portfolios in addition to 18 state and deputy ministerial posts. The UNP will recieve another 27 state and deputy ministerial portfolios.<\/p>\n

However only 42 ministers were sorn in yesterday out of which 12 are from the SLFP (including the President). According to President’s figures 3 more SLFP members are slated to be sworn in as Cabinet ministers while there will be 2 more from the UNP.<\/p>\n

Sirisena went on to say that he and the Premier had decided to appoint a special committee which will be responsible for appointing heads and directors for state institutions. Earlier such appointments were made on the discretion of the Minister in charge of the subject.<\/p>\n

The President said that Ministers could make recommendations but the committee will make the final decision. He said that this was to ensure that well qualified and suitable people are appointed to such posts.<\/p>\n

Sirisena also urged the new cabinet ministers to keep away from corrupt practices while adding that such people will be punished irrespective of status.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile the Premier addressing the new Ministers said that some of those who were overlooked for ministerial posts could head the district development coordinating committees and parliamentary select commitees which will be initiated soon.<\/p>\n

The swearing-in of the cabinet ministers of the new national government which was postponed for several times finally took place today.<\/p>\n

However, the state and deputy ministers did not take their oaths today. Political sources said some of these portolios were yet to be finalised and the oath taking of state and deputy ministers will msot likely happen on Monday.<\/p>\n

The following MPs were sworn in as ministers today:<\/p>\n

Cabinet Ministers<\/p>\n

1. Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe \u2013 Minister of National Policy & Economic Affairs<\/p>\n

2. John Amaratunga \u2013 Minister of Tourism Development & Christian Affairs<\/p>\n

3. Gamini Jayawickrama Perera \u2013 Minister of Sustainable Development & Wildlife<\/p>\n

4. Nimal Siripala de Silva \u2013 Minister of Transport<\/p>\n

5. S.B. Dissanayake \u2013 Minister of Social Empowerment & Welfare<\/p>\n

6. W.D.J. Seneviratne \u2013 Minister of Labour and Trade Union Relations<\/p>\n

7. Lakshman Kiriella \u2013 Minister of University Education & Highways<\/p>\n

8. Anura Priyadharshana Yapa \u2013 Minister of Disaster Management<\/p>\n

9. Susil Premajayantha – Technology, Technical Education & Employment<\/p>\n

10. Thilak Janaka Marapana \u2013 Minister of Law and Order & Prison Reforms<\/p>\n

11. Dr Rajitha Senaratne \u2013 Health, Nutrition & Indigenous Medicine<\/p>\n

12. Ravi Karunanayake \u2013 Minister of Finance<\/p>\n

13. Mahinda Samarasinghe \u2013 Minister of Skills Development & Vocational Training<\/p>\n

14. Vajira Abeywardena \u2013 Minister of Home Affairs<\/p>\n

15. S.B. Nawinne \u2013 Minister of Internal Affairs, Wayamba Development & Cultural Affairs<\/p>\n

16. Patali Champika Ranawaka \u2013 Minister of Megapolis & Western Development<\/p>\n

17. Mahinda Amaraweera \u2013 Minister of Fisheries & Water Resources<\/p>\n

18. Naveen Dissanayake \u2013 Minister of Plantation Industries<\/p>\n

19. Ranjith Siyambalapitiya \u2013 Minister of Power & Renewable Energy<\/p>\n

20. Duminda Dissanayake \u2013 Minister of Agriculture<\/p>\n

21. Wijedasa Rajapakshe \u2013 Minister of Buddha Sasana<\/p>\n

22. P. Harrison \u2013 Minister of Rural Economic Affairs<\/p>\n

23. Ranjith Maddumabandara \u2013 Minister of Public Administration & Management<\/p>\n

24. Gayantha Karunathilake \u2013 Minister of Parliamentary Reforms & Media<\/p>\n

25. Sajith Premadasa \u2013 Minister of Housing & Construction<\/p>\n

26. Arjuna Ranatunga \u2013 Minister of Ports & Shipping<\/p>\n

27. M. K. A. D. S. Gunawardana \u2013 Minister of Lands<\/p>\n

28. P. Digambaram \u2013 Minister of Upcountry New Villages, Estate Infrastructure& Community Development<\/p>\n

29. Chandrani Bandara \u2013 Minister of Women and Children\u2019s Affairs<\/p>\n

30. Thalatha Athukorala \u2013 Minister of Foreign Employment<\/p>\n

31. Akila Viraj Kariyawasam \u2013 Minister of Education<\/p>\n

32. D.M. Swaminathan \u2013 Minister of Resettlement & Hindu Affairs<\/p>\n

33. Chandima Weerakkody \u2013 Petroleum & Petroleum Gas<\/p>\n

34. Dayasiri Jayasekara \u2013 Minister of Sports<\/p>\n

35. Sagala Ratnayake \u2013 Minister of Southern Development<\/p>\n

36. Harin Fernando \u2013 Telecommunication & Digital Infrastructure<\/p>\n

37. Mano Ganesan \u2013 Minister of National Dialog<\/p>\n

38. Daya Gamage \u2013 Minister of Primary Industries<\/p>\n

39. Rauff Hakeem \u2013 Minister of Urban Development & Water Supply<\/p>\n

40. Rishad Bathiudeen \u2013 Minister of Industries & Commerce<\/p>\n

41. Kabeer Hashim \u2013 Public Enterprise Development<\/p>\n

42. Mohamed Hashim Abdul Haleem \u2013 Minister of Postal Service & Muslim Affairs<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":150197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1,6980,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-150196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-news","category-sri-lanka-parliamentary-elections-2015","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nNew Cabinet Appointed; President Sirisena Admits Fracas Over Portfolios - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/new-cabinet-appointed-president-sirisena-admits-fracas-over-portfolios\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Cabinet Appointed; President Sirisena Admits Fracas Over Portfolios - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/new-cabinet-appointed-president-sirisena-admits-fracas-over-portfolios\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-09-04T10:07:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-09-04T11:16:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Sajith-.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"639\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"639\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/new-cabinet-appointed-president-sirisena-admits-fracas-over-portfolios\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/new-cabinet-appointed-president-sirisena-admits-fracas-over-portfolios\/\",\"name\":\"New Cabinet Appointed; President Sirisena Admits Fracas Over Portfolios - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/new-cabinet-appointed-president-sirisena-admits-fracas-over-portfolios\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/new-cabinet-appointed-president-sirisena-admits-fracas-over-portfolios\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Sajith-.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-09-04T10:07:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-09-04T11:16:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/new-cabinet-appointed-president-sirisena-admits-fracas-over-portfolios\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/new-cabinet-appointed-president-sirisena-admits-fracas-over-portfolios\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/new-cabinet-appointed-president-sirisena-admits-fracas-over-portfolios\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Sajith-.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Sajith-.jpg\",\"width\":639,\"height\":639},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/new-cabinet-appointed-president-sirisena-admits-fracas-over-portfolios\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"New Cabinet Appointed; President Sirisena Admits Fracas Over Portfolios\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\",\"name\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"New Cabinet Appointed; President Sirisena Admits Fracas Over Portfolios - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/new-cabinet-appointed-president-sirisena-admits-fracas-over-portfolios\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"New Cabinet Appointed; President Sirisena Admits Fracas Over Portfolios - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/new-cabinet-appointed-president-sirisena-admits-fracas-over-portfolios\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2015-09-04T10:07:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-09-04T11:16:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":639,"height":639,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Sajith-.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/new-cabinet-appointed-president-sirisena-admits-fracas-over-portfolios\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/new-cabinet-appointed-president-sirisena-admits-fracas-over-portfolios\/","name":"New Cabinet Appointed; President Sirisena Admits Fracas Over Portfolios - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/new-cabinet-appointed-president-sirisena-admits-fracas-over-portfolios\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/new-cabinet-appointed-president-sirisena-admits-fracas-over-portfolios\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Sajith-.jpg","datePublished":"2015-09-04T10:07:10+00:00","dateModified":"2015-09-04T11:16:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/new-cabinet-appointed-president-sirisena-admits-fracas-over-portfolios\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/new-cabinet-appointed-president-sirisena-admits-fracas-over-portfolios\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/new-cabinet-appointed-president-sirisena-admits-fracas-over-portfolios\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Sajith-.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Sajith-.jpg","width":639,"height":639},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/new-cabinet-appointed-president-sirisena-admits-fracas-over-portfolios\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"New Cabinet Appointed; President Sirisena Admits Fracas Over Portfolios"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3","name":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Sajith-.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150196"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150208,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150196\/revisions\/150208"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}