Noting that the Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers should be appointed before Parliamentarian Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who won the Presidential Election, dissolves the Parliament, the Parliament’s Secretary General Kushani Rohanadheera said that there is no issue with the minimum number of Cabinet Ministers.

Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (22), she said that the Parliament could be dissolved at any time after four and a half years after it is elected–meaning even as soon as Dissanayake is sworn in as the President. “The Parliament can be dissolved at any time, but, the affairs of the Government must continue until the next Parliament is elected. For that, the appointment of the Premier and the caretaker Cabinet must be done before the dissolution of the Parliament.”

Currently, the number of MPs representing the National People’s Power is only three along with Dissanayake, and after he is sworn in as the President, another candidate of the NPP who competed in the last Parliamentary Election in 2020 will be elected to the Parliament. Accordingly, when queried if there is any problem related to the functioning of a Cabinet consisting of four members including the President and the Premier, Rohanadheera said: “There are rules about the maximum number of ministers that can be in the Cabinet, but, there is no such rule about the minimum number.”

She also mentioned that Dissanayake should inform her that he will resign as an MP after he is sworn in as the President. “When I am informed about it, I will inform the Election Commission (EC) that there is a vacancy in the position of an MP. They (EC) will then issue a gazette extraordinary designating the candidate who got the most votes next to Dissanayake in the last Parliamentary Election. However, the President can also dissolve the Parliament even without filling that vacancy.”