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Basil in Parliament next week: Rohitha Abeygunawardena

04 Jul 2021

Basil Rajapaksa has accepted the invitation made by the members of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) for him to enter Parliament, according to Minister of Ports and Shipping Rohitha Abeygunawardena. “We thank him for accepting our invitation. We expect him to enter Parliament next week. We expect him to take up a ministerial portfolio and strengthen us,” he said yesterday (4), addressing a press conference at the SLPP headquarters. Economic Revival and Poverty Eradication Presidential Task Force Head Basil Rajapaksa returned to the country on 24 June, after he left the country on 12 May for the US. He was welcomed by a group including State Minister Nimal Lanza upon his arrival at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake. Speaking to the reporters, Lanza said that Basil Rajapaksa would follow quarantine regulations. Basil Rajapaksa was a Member of Parliament from 2007 to 2015. During the period from 2005 to 2010 he served as a Presidential Senior Advisor for then President Mahinda Rajapaksa and was the Cabinet Minister of Economic Development from 2010 to 2015. Basil Rajapaksa has also held the citizenship of the US since 1997, and the laws barring dual citizens from entering Parliament, that was introduced through the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, were revoked through the 20th Amendment which was passed in October, 2020. Late last month The Morning reported that backbenchers of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) handed over a letter to Basil Rajapaksa requesting the latter to enter Parliament on the SLPP national list. We also reported that while Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa will continue to hold the post of Finance Minister, Basil Rajapaksa will be appointed to a new Cabinet ministerial post which will be created by merging a number of institutions under the Finance Ministry, according to high level sources at the Finance Ministry. Despite reports that there are plans to give Basil Rajapaksa the post of Finance Minister, the sources within the Ministry claimed that Mahinda Rajapaksa will not be resigning from the post of Finance Minister. “There may be some changes, but most likely the post of Finance Minister will be held by Mahinda Rajapaksa himself and a separate ministry such as the Ministry of Economic Revival will be established and handed over to Basil Rajapaksa,” the sources stated. Most of the responsibilities of the Finance Ministry, according to said sources, are to be transferred to the new Ministry.  


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