Colombo: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today resigned from office, paving way for newly-elected President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to appoint a new Cabinet.
Rajapaksa is expected to appoint a small Cabinet for a brief period till the dissolution of the Parliament after 1 March, 2020.
Leaders of the parties that backed Rajapaksa during the Presidential polls will be given preference in the Cabinet. According to sources, the Cabinet will have 15 members.
70-year old Rajapaksa defeated United National Party (UNP) candidate Sajith Premadasa by more than 13 lakh votes in the recently concluded Presidential elections, the country’s election commission said on Sunday.
On Monday, Rajapaksa took oath as the President at Ruwanweliseya, a Buddhist pagoda, in Anuradhapura, situated in northcentral Sri Lanka.