Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena today included a veteran politician and his loyalist in the council of ministers, in a bid to strengthen his party ahead of local-level elections.

Piyasena Gamage, 68, a member of parliament from the Southern province's Galle district, sworn in as the State Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development. There was speculation that President Sirisena's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) may leave the current unity government with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) by December 31.