President calls for Cabinet reshuffle by 14 April

• Says Cabinet reshuffle must happen before Sinhala and Tamil New Year
• Cabinet reshuffle to be carried out using scientific methodology
• UNF leaders to meet PM today 

 By Skandha Gunasekara

At yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, which saw the absence of all Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Ministers, President Maithripala Sirisena had requested that a Cabinet reshuffle take place by 14 April. 

Plantation Industries Minister Navin Dissanayake said that the President had requested Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to be prepared to carry out a Cabinet reshuffle by 14 April. 

“The President requested that the Cabinet be reshuffled by the 14 of this month the latest. No SLFP Ministers took part in the Cabinet meeting,” the Minister said, adding that the mood of the UNP Ministers was to remove the six SLFP Ministers who voted in favour of the no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister from the Cabinet of Ministers. 

Meanwhile, United National Front (UNF) sources said that the President had pointed out that no one could enjoy the spirit of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year without resolving the Cabinet crisis and reaffirming the Government’s future path. 

Furthermore, sources said that the President had asserted that the reshuffle would be carried out in a scientific manner, indicating that ministries with similar subjects, such as Education and Higher Education, would be given to a single ministry. 

Additionally, a meeting between the Prime Minister and leaders of the political parties in the UNF has been scheduled for 11.00 a.m. today.

Following last week’s no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister being defeated, with 16 SLFP MPs, including six Cabinet Ministers, voting in favour of the motion, the UNP demanded that the dissident SLFP ministers leave the Cabinet as they had voted in favour of the motion. 

Thereafter, a meeting of the SLFP Central Committee was held at the President’s official residence at Paget Road on Monday (9) night, where the majority of the SLFP Central Committee members had called for an SLFP exit from the Unity Government. 

However, SLFP General Secretary Duminda Silva, UPFA General Secretary Mahinda Amaraweera and former president Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga had opposed the move. This resulted in calls by the Central Committee members to remove the SLFP and UPFA General Secretaries.

It was decided at the Central Committee meeting that all SLFP Ministers would boycott yesterday’s weekly Cabinet Meeting. 

Another SLFP Central Committee meeting is scheduled to be held today to decide the party’s fate in the Unity Government.