Cabinet reshuffle before Sinhala and Tamil New Year

The President and the Prime Minister have decided to reshuffle the Cabinet before the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said. 

He stated that the decision was taken by the two party leaders during a meeting held last night. 

Kariyawasam also said that the United National Party (UNP) has officially informed the President that the party is unable to work with the SLFP Ministers and MPs who voted in favour of the no-confidence motion against the PM.

A group of UNP Parliamentarians had decided to hand over a no-confidence motions to the Speaker against six Ministers of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and Deputy Speaker Thilanga Sumathipala, who supported the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. 

The motions, signed by 20 UNP MPs, was against Ministers S.B. Dissanayake, W.D.J. Seneviratne, Anura Priyadharshana Yapa, Susil Premajayantha, Chandima Weerakkody, Dayasiri Jayasekara and Dpeuty Speaker Thilanga Sumathipala.

However, the very same day the Prime Minister instructed the UNP backbencher parliamentarians to withdraw the No-Confidence motions as it was not a decision of the party. 

He had asserted that the issues which have arisen with the SLFP would be resolved through negotiations.

Meanwhile the SLFP Ministers and MPs who voted in favour of the No Confidence Motion have reportedly requested the President to remove them from their posts.

On Friday, President Maithripala Sirisena said that the future of the current cabinet ministers and the proposed reshuffle would be discussed at the Central SLFP Committee meeting scheduled to be held on Monday (April 9) and the reshuffle will be studied by a joint committee of the two parties and it would be done in a scientific manner.