Sri Lanka’s new Marxist-leaning president swore in a 21-member Cabinet on Monday after his party secured a two-thirds parliamentary majority in last week’s election. The margin of victory will allow President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to make sweeping reforms,

Dissanayake retains the main portfolios, such as finance and defence, in particular, to ensure the government’s foremost task of ruthlessly implementing the IMF austerity measures is directly in his hands.

By Uditha Jayasinghe COLOMBO (Reuters) -Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake retained the key finance minister portfolio and reappointed Harini Amarasuriya as prime minister on Monday as the Indian Ocean island nation targets stronger recovery from a draining financial crisis.

Dissanayake is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who became the first foreign dignitary to visit Dissanayake following his election as President in September,

Unveiling the full list of Cabinet ministers, Dissanayake announced Harini Amarasuriya as the Prime Minister, who will also be the Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education.

Voters have handed Anura Kumara Dissanayake a significant win in a snap general election, giving its new leftist president greater legislative power to pursue policies to alleviate poverty.

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Monday urged the International Monetary Fund to consider the economic hardships faced by the people of the island nation and strike a balance in the economic recovery programme.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s National People’s Power Party won at least 123 of the 225 seats in parliament, according to partial results released by the Elections Commission.

Dissanayake's decision to call polls nearly 10 months ahead of schedule and secure legislative backing for his agenda was vindicated when his National People's Power (NPP) won 159 seats in the 225-member assembly.