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Three new ministers sworn into Sri Lanka's national gov't

Xinhua, September 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

Three new cabinet ministers were sworn into Sri Lanka's new national government on Wednesday, the president's media unit said here.

The ministers were sworn in before President Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat in capital Colombo.

The ministers included Faizer Mustapha who was sworn in as the minister of local government and provincial councils, Vijith Wijayamuni Soysa who was sworn in as the minister of irrigation and water management and Malik Samarawickreme who was sworn in as the minister of development strategies and international trade.

With the appointment of the three ministers, Sri Lanka's new unity government now consists of 46 ministers with 42 ministers being sworn in last week and Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera being sworn in late last month.

Although Sri Lanka's constitution allows the appointment of only 30 ministers, parliamentary approval to form a larger cabinet was sought by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe last week, when the new parliament convened for the second time after a parliamentary election on Aug. 17.

The matter which was taken up for debate was passed with a total of 143 votes in of a 225-member parliament.

Sri Lanka's new unity government consists of the ruling United National Party (UNP) led by Wickremesinghe and the opposition Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) which is led by President Sirisena. The two parties have agreed to work together in the new parliament. Endi