President’s newly appointed deputy ministers quit government

Thursday, 11 December 2014 00:51 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Two newly appointed deputy ministers of President Mahinda Rajapaksa Government yesterday relinquished their ministerial portfolios two days after incumbent handed over nominations to run for presidency for a third time. Deputy Minister of Botanical Gardens and Public Recreation Velusami Radhakrishnan submitted his resignation today, just hours after Deputy Minister of National Languages and Social Integration Udeiappan Palani Digambaram tendered his resignation.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa participated in religious observances at the shrine of Lord Venkateswara in Thirupati, Andhra Pradesh in India, 9 December Both deputy ministers have expressed support to the President’s challenger, common opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena at the presidential elections on 08 January. President Rajapaksa appointed the Upcountry People’s Front (UPF) Nuwara Eliya Parliamentarian Radhakrishnan as a deputy minister on 9 October. Radhakrishnan, who contested the 2010 General Election under the UPFA ticket from Nuwara Eliya District, came in second receiving 54,083 preference votes. Digambaram, another upcountry Tamil parliamentarian and the leader of the upcountry Tamil party, National Union of Workers (NUW), took oaths as a Deputy Minister of President Rajapaksa’s government on 21 August. His trade union cum party has a strong base in Badulla district among the ethnic Tamil estate worker community and it was highly instrumental for the UPFA to win elections in Badulla district previously. The appointment of the two deputy ministers was seen as a move aimed at winning the support of the upcountry plantation community ahead of President’s third re-election bid. However, the government’s lack of incentive to address the problems plantation workers facing and the failure to grant him a responsible portfolio to meet the needs of estate workers were said to be the reasons for Digambaram’s decision to leave the government. Nuwara Eliya district parliamentarian Navin Dissanayake, the former Minister of State Administration and Reforms, who resigned from his ministerial post last month also said the government’s failure to allocate enough funds for his ministry and to his electorate, in order for him to serve the public he represents was one of the reasons for his decision to quit the government.