Basil Rajapaksa takes oath as new MP

Newly-appointed Minister of Finance Basil Rajapaksa took oath as a Member of the Parliament this morning (July 08).

He was sworn in before Speaker of the Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena before signing the Member Roll kept before Secretary-General of Parliament Dhammika Dasanayake.

The Elections Commission yesterday (July 07) gazette Rajapaksa’s name for the SLPP MP seat left vacant with the resignation of former MP Jayantha Ketagoda.

Basil Rajapaksa was also sworn in as a Cabinet Minister of Finance before President Gotabaya Rajapaksa earlier this morning.

This is the 03rd time that he represents Parliament. Parliamentarian Basil Rajapaksa was elected to Parliament from the National List of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance in 2007. In the 2010 parliamentary election, he was elected from the Gampaha district by obtaining the highest number of preferential votes in Sri Lanka. He gained record 425,861 preferential votes.

He was the cabinet minister for Economic Development from 2007 to 2010 in the 06th Parliament and 2010 to 2015 in the 07th Parliament.

The founder of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) spearheaded a number of government initiatives in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and played a major role as a member of the Committee to Combat COVID 19.  He is also the Head of the Presidential Task Force on Economic Revival and Poverty Alleviation and the Presidential Task Force on Creating a Green Sri Lanka with Sustainable Solutions to Climate Change.