While speculation is mounting the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) new Cabinet of Ministers and Deputies may increase by another four Ministers and a Deputy, the Government is to set up a special unit to coordinate the ministries.

President’s secretary Lalith Weeratunga has stated that the unit would coordinate the functions among the Ministries to avoid the overlapping of responsibilities. Last week President Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed 37 Ministers and 39 Deputy Ministers following the victory at the April 8 general elections. The UPFA won a near two thirds majority by obtaining 144 seats in the 225 member Parliament, merely short of another six for the magical 150.

The previous UPFA government had over a hundred Cabinet Ministers, Non-Cabinet Ministers and Deputy Ministers, drawing criticism for maintaining a ‘jumbo Cabinet’. However the government justified the numbers citing the Proportionate Representation system in the existing Constitution whereby the UPFA as an alliance had only a majority of a few seats and had to woo Opposition members to its side by offering perks.

However these appointments carried the side affects where certain functions either overlapped or were neglected by ministries as some of them were responsible for the same subjects, which had caused friction and misunderstandings.

The special unit to be set up will minimize these problems and assist the Ministries to carry out a better coordinated move for the development of the country, according to the President’s secretary.