Sri Lanka to reshuffle leadership of select state institutions
COLOMBO – The Sri Lankan government is preparing to change the chairpersons, boards of directors, and senior officials of several state institutions, Cabinet Spokesman Nalinda Jayatissa said on Tuesday (10), as the ruling National People’s Power (NPP) administration moves to overhaul the governance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
“We are in the process of discussions on the changes,” Jayatissa, who also serves as Minister of Health and Media, told the weekly post-Cabinet media briefing in Colombo, adding that the changes will be announced soon.
The planned reshuffle comes weeks after Agriculture Minister K.D. Lal Kantha remarked that the government had “won the government but not the state”, a comment widely interpreted as reflecting the Marxist-Leninist ideological roots of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the main partner in the ruling NPP coalition, and the administration’s intent to reform entrenched state structures.
For decades, boards of state-owned enterprises have frequently been criticized as repositories for defeated politicians, relatives of senior officials, and political donors. Analysts say this system of patronage contributed to bloated payrolls, weak accountability, and strategic mismanagement.
Traditionally, chairpersons were often appointed directly by line ministers, fostering patron-client relationships in which SOE resources were sometimes deployed for political advantage. The current government says its shift toward a centrally overseen vetting mechanism is intended to disrupt that cycle, though critics say the process will require close scrutiny to ensure new appointees retain independence from party influence.
Under the NPP administration, a specialized committee has been established to recommend heads of SOEs and statutory bodies, with candidates assessed primarily on technical competence and academic qualifications rather than political affiliations. Officials say the reforms are aimed at addressing long-standing inefficiencies and heavy financial losses, often running into hundreds of billions of rupees, at major state entities such as SriLankan Airlines, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC).
The reshuffle comes amid recent changes in leadership at several institutions. Some chairpersons, including at the CEB, have resigned in recent weeks citing personal reasons.
-ENCL/EN
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