Sri Lankan President-elect Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced Friday the formation of a 16-member interim government headed by his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa, who will hold six ministries together as ministers are sworn in before the president.
Sri Lankan President, who was elected last week, handed over his elder brother Mahinda the portfolios of finance, economy, housing, urban development, water and Buddhist affairs, according to the Associated Press.
The foreign affairs portfolio was assigned to prominent politician Dinesh Gunawardena, while no defense minister was named, with constitutional amendments banning the president from assuming any ministerial portfolios, as usual.
In a speech to members of his new government, the Sri Lankan president asked for their support to implement his pledges to power and urged them to meet the aspirations of the people who wanted political change.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa said he would call early parliamentary elections, with the current parliamentary session due to end in August, amid expectations that the prime minister would win the confidence of the parliamentary majority.
The president was a former defense minister in 2005-2015, when his older brother Mahinda was president, responsible for leading the military campaign against Tamil rebels who were defeated in 2009.