The Sri Lankan leader has also appointed Amarasuriya as Prime Minister, keeping finance and defense | Election News

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is choosing a 21-member cabinet as he plans sweeping reforms, including a campaign promise for a new constitution.

Sri Lanka’s Marxist-leaning President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has reappointed academic Harini Amarasuriya as the country’s prime minister after sweeping snap parliamentary elections last week.

Dissanayake on Monday chose a 21-member Cabinet, retaining key defense and finance positions as he plans sweeping reforms, including a campaign promise for a new constitution, and a crackdown on corruption in a nation recovering from its worst economic crisis.

A nation of 22 million, Sri Lanka was hit by a crisis caused by a severe foreign exchange deficit that pushed it into recession and caused its economy to shrink by 7.3 percent in 2022 and 2.3 percent last year. The country has entered the financial program of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) following the failure.

The swearing-in ceremony of the new cabinet, which was broadcast live on television, was held at the Presidential Secretariat in the capital, Colombo.

Amarasuriya, 54, will also handle education, higher education and vocational training services. She was first appointed prime minister in September to lead an interim government after Dissanayake won the presidential election, making her the first woman to head a national government in 24 years.

Veteran legislator Vijitha Herath has been appointed as the foreign minister. Ananda Wijepala is the new minister for public safety and parliamentary affairs, while Bimal Rathnayake has been appointed as the minister for transport, highways, ports and civil aviation.

A political outsider in a country ruled by family groups for decades, Dissanayake’s left-leaning National People’s Power (NPP) coalition had just three seats in parliament, prompting him to dissolve it and seek a new mandate in last week’s vote.

The NPP won in a landslide in Thursday’s parliamentary election, securing 159 seats in the 225-member house – representing a comfortable two-thirds majority. The main opposition party, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), under its leader Sajith Premadasa, won only 40 seats.

It was the first time since 1977 – when Sri Lanka changed its parliamentary system to proportional representation – that a single party won a clear majority. It is also the first time that the incumbent president has the necessary numbers to legislate in parliament without relying on any allies or partners.

With a two-thirds majority, Disanayake, 55, can still amend the constitution. The NPP had promised that there would be a referendum on the new constitution.

“We must ensure that this absolute power is not completely wasted,” Dissanayake said at the swearing-in ceremony.

“We must use this great power that has been given to us responsibly, to fulfill the wishes of people who have been oppressed economically and politically for a long time.”

The new government held its first session of Parliament on Thursday. The 2025 budget is expected to be adjusted in line with the ongoing IMF bailout received by the previous government. An IMF team is on a week-long trip to the island nation to hold talks with the new government and conduct the third review of Sri Lanka’s $2.9bn economic reform plan.