• The previous cabinet of ministers who functioned under Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe will be sworn in today after the Prime Minister takes oaths
• Following the appointment of Ranil Wickremesinghe as the President, his national list seat in Parliament has fallen vacant and discussions are now ongoing as to who will be appointed to fill the vacant seat

By JAMILA HUSAIN  

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Parliamentarian Dinesh Gunawardena will take oaths as the Prime Minister today morning along with the previous cabinet of ministers, a senior SLPP source told Daily Mirror last night. Gunawardena will be sworn in as the Prime Minister before President Ranil Wickremesinghe following many discussions within the SLPP party yesterday. 

According to the Constitution, the previous Cabinet stands dissolved at the moment since premiership has fallen vacant following Mr. Wickremesinghe who held it becoming the President of the country in the parliamentary vote conducted on July 20.  Those who served in the previous Cabinet will be reappointed to serve for a brief period. However, MP Prof. G.L. Peiris, who was the Foreign Affairs Minister, will not be given the portfolio this time, according to a top source close to the President. Instead, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Ali Sabry is to be appointed the new Foreign Affairs Minister.  

Meanwhile, President Ranil Wickremesinghe who was sworn in yesterday pledged to expedite the process of enactment of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution empowering Parliament. The bill has already been gazetted to be enacted by Parliament.  It seeks to reintroduce the Constitutional Council to nominate members to be appointed to the  independent commissions.

• President Ranil Wickremesinghe who was sworn in yesterday pledged to expedite the enactment of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution empowering Parliament