Sri Lanka’s crisis-hit government appoints 37 junior Ministers, including the nephew of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa
Prasannkumar 
Sri Lanka’s crisis-hit government appoints 37 junior Ministers, including the nephew of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Most of the junior ministers and lawmakers who were appointed to the ranks of ministers of state were members of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party (SLPP). Among them was the ex-president Maithripala Sirisena, who is a member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and decided to not participate in the government formation that took place in July.
On Thursday, 37 junior ministers were appointed by Sri Lanka, including the nephews of Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa. President Ranil Wickremesinghe ordered a major expansion in order to create a stable government that can tackle the worst economic crisis the country has ever faced. Sri Lanka is currently in its worst economic crisis since 1948 when it gained independence. This was caused by a shortage of foreign currency reserves that left the 22 million-strong country scrambling to buy essentials. ..
Most of the junior ministers and lawmakers who were appointed to the ranks of ministers of state were members of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party (SLPP).
Among them was the ex-president Maithripala Sirisena of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, which opted to remain away from the government formation in July.
“New state ministers were (were) sworn into before the president at The Presidential Secretariat,” stated the president’s media unit in a statement.
Ranjith Siyambalapitiya was sworn in as state-ministers in the finance ministry. Shehan Semasinghe, the nephew of Gotabaya or Mahinda Rajapaksa was appointed to the irrigation ministry.
Despite Thursday’s rush of appointments, President Wickremesinghe still has a long way to go before he can form an all-party government that will tackle the worst economic crisis in the country’s history.
Wickremesinghe, who was the minister of finances last month, presented the interim budget 2022 to Parliament. He said that he would reiterate his invitation to all parties in this Parliament to form an all-party government. This unprecedented situation is our responsibility, so we must prioritize the needs of the country.
Wickremesinghe was elected to office in July after Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his predecessor fled Sri Lanka. He then resigned.
Sri Lanka reached a staff-level deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a USD 2.29 billion bailouts. This came despite the country’s difficult task of restructuring its debt with creditors including China.
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