View source for Sri Lanka President Strengthens Rajapaksa Dynasty In New Government

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has consolidated his family's grip on power by naming two more relatives to a new government<br>  <br>Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa named two more relatives to a new government unveiled Wednesday, further consolidating his family's grip on power.<br> <br>His brother Mahinda will lead the government, formed after their nationalist party's landslide win in a parliamentary election last week.<br> <br>Gotabaya and Mahinda will control the key defence and finance portfolios, respectively, in the new 26[http://www.ajaxtime.com/?s=-member%20cabinet -member cabinet].<br> <br>Their elder brother Chamal kept his place in the cabinet and was joined by Mahinda's eldest son, Namal, who was named sports minister.<br> <br>The growing dynastic imprint was strengthened by one of their nephews,  [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-chua-huong-dong-huong-tich-ha-noi-tour-du-lich-le-hoi-chua-huong-tu-ha-noi.html tour chùa hương 1 ngày] Shasheendra Rajapaksa, who joined the government as a state agriculture minister though he will not be in the cabinet.<br> <br>Gotabaya Rajapaksa, 71, became president in November last year and named Mahinda, a 74-year-old former president, as prime minister.<br> <br>Pursuing a nationalist agenda, their party has won a two-thirds majority in parliament, which allows them to change the constitution and tighten their hold on power.<br> <br>The brothers want to scrap a 2015 constitutional amendment which transferred some executive powers from the president to the prime minister, along with independent institutions to run public services and the judiciary.<br> <br>In the new cabinet, Mahinda was given three portfolios -- finance, culture and housing -- while their eldest brother Chamal, 77, was given irrigation, a powerful position in largely rural Sri Lanka.<br> <br>Chamal was also made the state minister for defence, a non-cabinet position responsible for internal security and disaster management.<br> <br>The swearing-in of ministers was carried out at the Temple of the Tooth,  [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-chua-huong-dong-huong-tich-ha-noi-tour-du-lich-le-hoi-chua-huong-tu-ha-noi.html tour chùa hương 1 ngày] the holiest Buddhist shrine, in the presence of [http://www.purevolume.com/search?keyword=saffron-robed%20monks saffron-robed monks] and other guests in Kandy, 115 kilometres (71 miles) east of Colombo.<br> <br>The venue was carefully chosen to reinforce the Rajapaksa family's appeal to their majority Sinhala-Buddhist constituency.<br> <br>The president took his oath after his November landslide in front of a pagoda built by a legendary Sinhala king known to have vanquished a rival from the minority Tamil community.<br> <br>Mahinda was sworn in as Prime Minister on Sunday at the Kelaniya temple which Buddhists in Sri Lanka believe to have been visited by the Buddha himself.<br>