Wednesday, November 23 2005 15:56 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Colombo: Sri Lanka's new President Mahinda Rajapakse today (Nov 23, 2005) kept two key portfolios of defence and finance as he appointed a 25-member cabinet that left out two hardline parties which had supported his election campaign.

The Foreign Ministry went to Mangala Samaraweera, who managed Rajapakse's campaign. Samaraweera, a JVP (People's Liberation Front) friendly hardliner, will also hold his earlier portfolio of ports and aviation. He succeeds Anura Bandaranaike, brother of outgoing President Chandrika Kumaratunga.

Bandaranaike, who was earlier slated to be the Prime Minister, was given the post of tourism minister. His deputy will be Sri Lanka's world cup winning cricket skipper Arjuna Ranatunga who held that post earlier too.

Key allies at the November 17 presidential election, the Marxist JVP and the JHU (National Heritage Party), a party of Buddhist monks, were conspicuously kept out amid speculation that they had requested more portfolios than the president was willing to give them.

Eighteen ministers without cabinet rank and 29 deputy ministers were also sworn in today.

A former Media Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa got his old job back to head the Media and Information ministry.

The swearing-in of the new Government was originally scheduled for Monday to coincide with the induction of Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake.