A proposal to increase the size of the cabinet of Sri Lanka’s new national government was passed with a majority of 127 votes.
The number of cabinet ministers will go up to 48 from 30 and the number of non-cabinet ministers will increase to 45 from 40. There will be a total of 93 ministerial posts in the new parliament, one of the largest cabinets in the world. This means that 41% of the 225 MPs in parliament will be members of the cabinet.
A total of 143 MPs voted for the motion, while 16 MPs opposed it. The TNA and the JVP were amongst the parties which voted against the motion.
New opposition leader R Sampanthan earlier today opposed the motion, saying the culture of having an excessive number of ministers must end.
“The two main parties working together could be in the national interest. This is the first time in the country’s history that the two main parties have decided to come together to constitute a government.”
”It would have been much better if the two parties would have been able to to come together without an increase in the number of ministries,
“But unfortunately we have a culture in this country which had been deeply entrenched in recent times which has resulted in the number of ministries being enhanced through various devious processes including the use of various considerations in order to buy over MPs. I think we should put an end to this culture,” he said.
The TNA leader pointed towards neighbouring India, which is makes do with only 65 ministers including 22 cabinet ministers, despite being the second-most populous country in the world.
“This is something we should bear in mind and the desire for ministerial positions it is against the national interest to an extent that is not consistent with the need of the country is a culture we must get over.”
“But I do realise that in the present context a national government under any circumstances may be a dire necessity and may be something this country needs,” he said.
“We must also remember that this culture of everybody wanting to become a minister somehow must be ended and we must turn a new leaf,” he said.
"That is not good and the people of the country will not respect that for too long.”
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