Devjyot & Uditha Jayasinghe

COLOMBO, (Reuters) – President Gotabaya Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka has expanded his cabinet to 17 ministers. However, they didn’t include his relatives who were fired as protests erupted against the government’s handling a severe economic crisis.

Mahinda Rajapaksa is the president’s older brother. However, he remains prime minister.

A 22 million-strong island nation, the country is experiencing long power cut and shortages in fuel and medicine. This has been caused by a dramatic fall in its foreign currency reserves. It has stopped imports of basic goods and forced thousands to take shelter on the streets.

Rajapaksa’s government will begin negotiations with the International Monetary Fund on Monday to discuss a loan program. Analysts have warned that political instability could lead to financial stability in Sri Lanka.

Rajapaksa was faced with increasing popular unrest and dismantled his cabinet. He invited all the parties to the parliament and offered a unity government. This offer was rejected both by the opposition and the members of the ruling alliance.

A statement issued by the presidency stated that “Seventeen ministers from new cabinet were sworn-in before President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, at the President’s Secretariat this morning.”

Five members of previous cabinets were not sworn again. Most of the portfolios were assigned to Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna members.

The statement stated that “The cabinet portfolios of the Prime Minister and President have not changed.”

The new cabinet includes Mahinda Rajapaksa and no other family member.

The outgoing cabinet included two other president’s siblings, Chamal Rajapaksa (the prime minister’s brother) and Namal Rajapaksa (the prime minister’s younger brother). They weren’t re-appointed.

Over a week ago, thousands of Sri Lankans protested outside the presidential office in Colombo’s commercial capital. They demanded that the Rajapaksas resign from government.

Economic mismanagement by previous governments led to a decline in the public finances of Sri Lanka. This was compounded by massive tax cuts implemented soon after the Rajapaksa government took office in 2019.

The COVID-19 Pandemic ravaged key economic sectors, including tourism. And the government was slow to reach out to the IMF.

Last week, the central bank announced that the country was suspending its external debt payments unilaterally and using $1.93 billion of foreign reserves to import basic goods.