[ad_1]
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed his younger brother Basil as finance minister, consolidating power among family members who now rule the country.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has named his younger brother Basil Rajapaksa as finance minister in a move that exacerbated the family’s distress over the island nation.
Basil was sworn in as parliamentarian on Thursday and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, also his older brother, took office.
According to the DPA news agency, Basil, who has dual US-Sri Lankan citizenship, takes control of the country’s major institutions, including the Treasury and the Central Bank.
According to the media president, Mahinda was given an additional role as minister of economic policy and implementation of the plan.
In addition to the latest changes, Gotabaya’s other brother, Chamal, is the irrigation minister and junior defense minister.
Mahinda’s son, Namal, is a minister of youth and sports.
Gotabaya and his older brother Mahinda won a huge majority in last year’s parliamentary elections, giving the family the power to make profound changes to the island’s nation’s constitution.
Mahinda was president of the country from 2005 to 2015, holding office for two consecutive terms and regaining first place after winning the 2020 vote.
Some members of the Sri Lankan government Podujana Peramuna (People’s Party) are predicting that Basil will run in the next presidential election.
Sri Lanka, a tourism-dependent country, is battling a coronavirus pandemic.
On Thursday, the country’s confirmed COVID-19 infections rose to a total of 268,676 and the death toll was 3,351, according to data from the Ministry of Health.
[ad_2]
Source link
