Key ministers reshuffled as govt faces serious health crisis

• Pavithra removed from Health to pave way for Keheliya
• Pavithra hints disappointment at being removed from Health Ministry 
• Dinesh loses Foreign Affairs 

By JAMILA HUSAIN  

Key ministers in the cabinet were removed and rolled in a cabinet reshuffle last morning which was kept under wraps by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa till the last moment. 

The ministers were changed as Sri Lanka faces one of its worst health crisis due to the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.Pavithra Wanniarachchi who held the health portfolio was dropped from her position and was sworn in as the Transport Minister, paving way for Keheliya Rambukwella to be sworn in as the Health Minister.Dinesh Gunawardena was changed from his portfolio of Foreign Affairs and made Education Minister while G.L. Peiris who held the education portfolio was made Minister of Foreign Affairs.Dullas Allahapperuma was sworn in as the Media Minister while Gamini Lokuge was sworn in as the Power Minister. Namal Rajapaksa who is already the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports was sworn in as the Minister of Development Coordination Monitoring, a brand new portfolio created. The shuffle happened at a time when the government is facing some criticism over its handling of the COVID-19 crisis. New Health Minister Keheliya Rambuwella, in a statement on his Twitter account, soon after being sworn in said it was imperative that collective social responsibility of all citizens was needed to defeat the pandemic challenge.  

Pavithra however hinted disappointment over being dropped from her Ministry saying she was removed from the Ministry of Health at an unexpected moment.  

“The Ministry of Transport has been handed over to me at an unexpected moment. I didn’t really know until I got to the Presidential Secretariat. In any case, you have to accept everything in life happily,” she said with a half smile.