we have already solved the mystery of the Prime Minister. Rajapakse has gone for a safe choice as far his party is concerned and given it to Ratnasiri, an option CBK went for with same concerns in mind. The BBC, reporting the appointment called the new PM a Hawk, and a Sinhalese Nationalist Hardliner. Perhaps they should have just called him an idiot, because he's nothing much more than that.
The decision is surprising because despite Rajapakse's pre-election deals with the devils (JHU/JVP) I really never thought of him as an extremist or a nationalist, and I believed like some others, if he were to get elected he would try to tune down his ‘hardliner’ image which he seems to have created. The step to make Ratanasiri PM doesn’t do well to that end, as Ratansiri’s known to spontaneously flame the tigers with words that up until now, has had no weight. So definitely a not so positive move as far as the peace process is concern.
Other interesting development to follow will be actions of Anura Bandaranaike, most speculate that he is going to loose the Foreign ministry. I’m not so sure about that, I think it’s in Mahinda’s best interest that he keeps at least some solidarity with the Banda’s. Anura is such an unpredictable creature; you’ll never know what he will do, so he will be an interesting character to look out for.
It’s also reported that Jeppa’s wont accept ministries just as yet, so it will be interesting again to see who will get the key ministries of Finance, Agriculture, and if above speculation is correct, The Foreign ministry. It’s likely that Sarath Amunugama will retain as the finance minister; at least the guy has some common sense in him.
Other key appointments to look out for will be who will receive Kadiragamar’s national list seat, and who will be appointed as the peace secretariat after Mr.Danapala’s resignation. Let’s hope he wont be replaced by a ‘war secretariat’ :P
The other more perhaps important development will be to see how the UNP will reform it self, whether or not Ranil will leave will perhaps be the thing to watch this week. A lot of people speculate that despite the loss, he might stay on as the leader of the UNP. I must admit that it’s seems to be likely, he seems to have the backing of the party seniors. Having said that I think Ranil should start grooming the next presidential candidate from the UNP. So perhaps he will continue on as the leader of the UNP, and give the post of ‘Opposition Leader’ to someone else, like Mahinda Samarasinghe.
All comments/speculation/predictions/bets are welcome :)
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