Sunday, 6 April 2014 00:01
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The newly-elected Chief Ministers and Ministers of the Western and Southern Provinces were sworn in before President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday.
Prasanna Ranatunga and Shan Wijayalal De Silva took oaths as Chief Ministers of the Western and Southern Provinces respectively.
Contesting under the UPFA banner, Prasanna Ranatunga obtained the highest number of votes of 249,678 for the Gampaha District.
Shan Wijayalal De Silva too received the highest number of preference votes in the Galle District, according the preference vote results of the Provincial Council polls. He obtained 95,860 votes for the Galle District.
Chief Minister of the Western province Prasanna Rantunga received the portfolios of Finance and Planning, Law and Order, Land, Education, Local Government and Provincial Administration, Manpower and Employment, Engineering Service and Media.
Minister Udaya Gammanpila received the portfolios of Agriculture, Agrarian Development, Irrigation, Industries, Environmental Affairs and Cultural Affairs, while Minister Ranjith Somawansha received the portfolios of Health and Indigenous Medicine, Probation and Child Care Service Affairs; Minister Upali Kodikara received the portfolios of Electricity and Energy, Road Development, Housing and Construction, Water Supply and Drainage, Social Welfare and Development of Estate and Urban Infrastructure and Minister Nimal Lansa received transport, Sports and Youth Affairs, Women Affairs, Food Supplies and Distribution affairs, Co-operative Development, Fisheries, Rural Development, Tourism, Investment Coordinating and Animal husbandry portfolios in the Western Province.
Chief Minister of the Southern Province, Shan Wijeylal de Silva received the portfolios of Finance and Planning, Law and order, Local Government, Transport, Health, Indigenous Medicine, Tourism and Engineering Service.
Minister Chandima Rasaputra received the portfolios of Education,Land and Land development, Highways and Media while Minister Dayawansha Ariyathilaka received agriculture, irrigation, Water Supply and Drainage, Food Supply and Distribution and Co-operative Development.
Minister D.V. Upul received the portfolios of Fisheries, Animal Production and Development, Environmental Affairs, Rural Industries, Rural and Estate Infrastructure Development in the Southern Province.
The UPFA led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa has secured a comfortable victory at Western and Southern Provincial Council elections with a majority of 388,977 votes in the Southern Provincial Council (SPC) and 683,993 votes in the Western Provincial Council (WPC).
The UPFA also won 56 seats in the Western Provincial Council and 33 seats in the Southern Provincial Council, while the second placed was secured by the UNP with 28 seats in the WPC and 14 in the SPC.
The Democratic Party has secured nine seats from the WPC, while JVP won six seats.
Democratic People’s Front secured two seats and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress managed to get two seats.
In the Southern Provincial Council, UNP has again secured the second place with 14 seats, while JVP and the Democratic Party won five and three seats in the Provincial Council respectively.