INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Two state ministers and five deputy ministers were sworn-in by Maithripala Sirisena at a function todayColombo:
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena today inducted seven new ministers in his government, including a Tamil who is the only elected
representative of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party from Jaffna, the capital of northern district.Two state ministers and five deputy
ministers were sworn-in by Sirisena at a function at the Presidential Secretariat, amid an internal bickering within the unity
government.Angajan Ramanathan, of the Sirisena-led Sri Lanka Freedom Party from Jaffna, was appointed as a deputy minister.The main Tamil
party, Tamil National Alliance, had last week objected to Mr Ramanathan being appointed as the deputy speaker of parliament.Five out of the
seven ministers appointed today are from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe-led United National Party or UNP.Mr Sirisena and Mr
Wickremesinghe are involved in a political tug of war since mid-February when the president asked the prime minister to step down.The
expansion is being seen as a reward to the UNP back benchers, who stood by Mr Wickremesinghe when no trust motion against the premier was
brought by the united Opposition in parliament in early April.With today's swearing-in, the number of state ministers and the number of
deputy ministers has increased to 22 each.
