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Former opposition leader and Sri Lanka Freedom Party stalwart from the South, 59-year-old Mahinda Rajapaksa took oaths as the new Prime Minister in President Chandrika Bandaranayake Kumaranatunge government at 11.26 on Tuesday morning. Prime Minister Rajapaksa, the seventeenth Prime Minister to be appointed since independence in 1948, earned the highest preference votes in the Hambantota […]

Sri Lankas new prime minister, Mahinda Rajapakse, is a part-time film star but his new role requires a major balancing act to keep a minority government from collapsing in a hung parliament.rnHis swearing in ceremony Tuesday saw him performing his first “official act” as he smiled for the cameras after being given the post despite […]

The Cabinet of Ministers in the President Chandrika Bandaranayake Kumaranatunges new government is due to be finalised by Wednesday, say top JVP sources.Officials say the new Cabinet, the governments core decision making body could field upto 35 members, with the Marxist JVP taking four seats.rn rnJVP sources added that they would not push for greater […]

The absence of a coherent economic policy, ranging from fiscal discipline, economic reforms, together with how fast new government will woo foreign donors to resume stalled aid, still remain a relatively grey area.rn rnldblquote The key thing is to see who will be the actual public face behind key ministries and state institutions, dblquote observes, […]

The absence of a coherent economic policy, ranging from fiscal discipline, economic reforms, together with how fast new government will woo foreign donors to resume stalled aid, still remain a relatively grey area.rn rnldblquote The key thing is to see who will be the actual public face behind key ministries and state institutions, dblquote observes, […]

As the Freedom Alliance prepared to form a government, outgoing Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe warned that a government without an absolute majority in parliament is likely to be unstable.ldblquote From the information we have the president is planning to swear in a Prime Minister from the Alliance. And that this will be a minority government […]

Sri Lanka is lined up for a ’80 5.5 mn assistance package from the European Commission (EC) to resettle and rehabilitate over 270,000 displaced people.The funds will help nearly 250,000 displaced people rebuild their livelihoods and improve living conditions of 27,000 internally displaced persons in welfare centres, said a press release from the EU office […]

The polls were called early by President Chandrika Kumaratunga to end a power struggle with the rival prime minister over peace talks with the Tamil Tigers, but observers noted they have merely served to usher in an assembly filled with extremists. rn rnrnFor the first time, Sri Lankas parliament will have an all-clergy party taking […]

Elections Chief Dayananda Dissanayake has opted not to go for fresh polls in two districts, which were reported to have voting irregularities and instead release the final results late Sunday.The Elections Dept., stopped declaring results late Saturday, due to complaints of vote rigging in the districts of Kandy and Digamadulla.rn rn”I do not believe that […]

After an overwhelming anti-government vote at Fridays election, JBIZ Chief says the business community should accept the will of the people and work with the new government to map out an economic agenda.The majority United National Party led by Premier Ranil Wckremasinghe lost to the President and JVP led United Peoples Freedom Alliance, at final […]