Mangala to place economic diplomacy at the centre of Lanka's foreign affairs

MP Mangala Samaraweera was appointed as Foreign Minister yesterday and took oaths in the presence of President Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat, reaffirming his commitment to “faithfully perform the duties and discharge the functions of the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs in accordance with the Constitution,” his office said in a statement.

“The appointment followed a double victory in the general election, where his constituency of Matara, was one of two seats the United National Party secured in the Southern Province. It was also the sole constituency where the UNP prevailed in the Matara District. He also nearly doubled his preference votes from 2010,” the media release said.

Mangala Samaraweera, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe and D.M. Swaminathan were yesterday sworn in by President Maithripala Sirisena as the Foreign Affairs Minister, Justice Minister and Resettlement Minister respectively of the new Government – Pic by Sudath Silva 

This is the third time Minister Samaraweera will hold the portfolio, having held it for the first time between November 2005 and January 2007, and for the second time between January 2015 and August 2015, it added.

After the ceremony, Minister Samaraweera said that he would “build, with even greater vigour, on the tremendous goodwill the international community extended to Sri Lanka after the 8 January revolution”, adding that, “this intensification of engagement and strengthening of relations will be made possible by the political stability arising from the decisive mandate given by the people in the general election”.

He said that he would “place economic diplomacy at the centre of Sri Lanka’s foreign affairs - focusing on promoting trade, tourism and investment”. Minister Samaraweera also noted that “restructuring the Foreign Ministry and the rationalisation of Sri Lanka’s diplomatic missions abroad was an urgent priority”.