President takes over Ministries of Anura, Mangala & Sripathy

9.2.2007

President Mahinda Rajapakse has taken over the ministries of the Anura Bandaranaike, Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathy Suriarachchi with immediate effect. The president has placed his signature on this special gazette notification at around 7:30 on 9th of February.

Accordingly the Ministry of National Heritage of Anura Bandaranaike, Ports and Aviation ministry of Mangala Samraweera and Ports Development Ministry of Sripathy Suriarachchi have been taken over by the President.

Anura is a senior deputy chairman of the SLFP while Samaraweera is the Treasurer of the party. At the party convocation this year Anura was proposed to the relevant position by president himself. Also it was Anura and Mangala that seconded Mahinda Rajapakse's name at the party's executive committee meeting for the 2004 presidential election. And it was Samaraweera who was the chief organizer of the presidential campaign that year.

'LeN' this afternoon revealed for the first time that the relevant ministers were going to lose their ministries at the executive committee meeting that was scheduled for tomorrow.