Cabinet heats up over calls to dismantle CCEM

• President says CCEM takes responsibilities of Cabinet away from them
• Prime Minister stands his ground and wants to continue with the committee

As the coalition Government  resumed work following two weeks of political turmoil, tension between the two parties renewed yesterday with President Maithripala Sirisena calling to do away with the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs(CCEM) headed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Meeting for the first time after the reshuffle, the Cabinet discussion yesterday heated up when the Premier opposed the idea put forwarded by the President.

Sirisena pointing out that the CCEM has effectively taken the responsibility of informed decision making away from the Cabinet, suggested that the Unit should be dismissed, a Senior Cabinet Minister told Daily FT.

When Wickremesinghe pointed out, that three ministries, National Policies, Development Strategies and Finance need in-depth consultation and coordination for certain matters, the President has suggested appointing cabinet sub committees for proposals needing further discussion as is the normal practice.

“President also reminded the cabinet of a number of projects that went belly up even after CCEM evaluation like the Volkswagen project,” another Minister told Daily FT.

“He said that it was him who intervened when state lands in Kalutara was to be given at a very low lease rate for investment projects.”

However the discussion ended without a decision on the fate of the committee responsible for evaluating cabinet proposals for approval.

The discussion ended in a stalemate, said one Minister adding that the situation has thrown the country’s administration into jeopardy where the functioning of the Cabinet has also come under crisis as the tug-of-war between the two coalition parties continue despite declarations to have patched differences.