By

Meera Srinivasan

Basil Rajapaksa, brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, was on Thursday sworn in as Sri Lanka’s Minister of Finance, becoming the fourth Rajapaksa brother and fifth member of the first family to enter the Cabinet.

Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa’s son Namal Rajapaksa is also a Cabinet Minister.

His appointment, enabled by the resignation of a government MP and Sri Lanka’s nationalist list system – through which political parties get extra seats to Parliament based on their vote share – comes at a crucial time for the Rajapaksa administration that is facing an unprecedented economic crisis, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.

His entry was also made possible by the government removing a constitutional provision barring dual citizens —Mr. Basil Rajapaksa is also an American citizen — from entering Parliament.

Mr. Basil Rajapaksa will take charge of the Finance Ministry, helmed until now by Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was on Thursday allocated the newly-created portfolio of Economic Policies and Planning.

Mr. Basil Rajapaksa, who served as Minister for Economic Development in the former Mahinda Rajapaksa administration (2010-2015), was arrested in 2015 following allegations of corruption and released on bail. In November 2020, he was acquitted in the case.

Mr. Basil Rajapaksa is credited with building the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP or People’s Front), the new political vehicle for the Rajapaksas’ return to power in 2019.

As chief strategist, it was Mr. Basil Rajapaksa who crafted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resounding victory in the presidential poll of 2019, as well as the party’s sweep in the August 2020 general elections.

Courtesy:The Hindu