Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appoints interim Cabinet

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Friday appointed an interim Cabinet which is aimed to run government until next parliamentary election. 16-member Cabinet included President's brors- Mahinda Rajapaksa, 74, and Chamal Rajapaksa, 77, two Tamils and a woman.

This is an interim government, Gotabaya Rajapaksa said during swearing-in ceremony.

He said ministers of state would be appointed next week.

Gotabhaya Rajapaksa as President cant hold ministries although he is he of Cabinet.

Tamil mirity members came from Tamil dominated rth and from central tea plantations areas of Tamils of Indian origin.

Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is appointed on post of Prime Minister in new Cabinet, was also named as Minister of Defence and Finance while eldest of brors Chamal Rajapaksa was named Minister of Tre and Food Security.

Dinesh Gunawardena, 70, a veteran Marxist politician has been named as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Cabinet appointment is seen as interim until President dissolves current parliament and go for a fresh parliamentary election.

next parliamentary poll is scheduled only after August 2020. Constitutionally, a sitting prime minister cant be removed unless he resigns. But following Gotabaya Rajapaksa's win, need for a fresh parliamentary poll to allow new president to form his own government has gained ground.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa could dissolve current Parliament to call for early elections after February 2020.

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya on Tuesday said that country faces possibility of a snap parliamentary poll.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is also under pressure to quit.

"As a party which hours democracy, we will discuss with parliamentary group, Speaker and party leers about parliamentary elections," a statement from Wickremesinghe's office said on Monday.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa was on Monday sworn in as Sri Lanka's seventh President. He defeated Sajith Premasa, 52, by more than 13 lakh votes.