- ‘We didn’t ask for portfolios’ – MP Dissanayake
Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Parliamentarian S.B. Dissanayake yesterday (24) denied reports that several Government MPs including himself, have warned that they would work against the Government if Cabinet portfolios are not given to them.
It was recently reported that President and National Policies Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has reiterated that he would not consider an expansion of the Cabinet of Ministers, despite requests having been made by certain Government MPs to grant them Cabinet portfolios. The reports alleged that MPs such as Dissanayake have warned that they would work against and try to topple the Government, if they are not granted such.
Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday, Dissanayake denied the allegations in the reports, and said that they had not asked for any Ministerial posts, nor had they warned of any move against the Government. “All these reports are false. We have not asked for any portfolio.”
He said that SLPP National Organiser, Basil Rajapaksa had sent a list of SLPP MPs to whom Cabinet portfolios should be given to Wickremesinghe as soon as the latter became the President, and that no request had since been made regarding the matter. “Initially, Rajapaksa sent a list of MPs to the President, and informed him that it would be better for them to be considered to be given Cabinet portfolios. I do not think any such request has again been made.”
There were recent media reports to the effect that a reshuffle of Cabinet and State Ministers would take place soon due to efficiency related issues, as well as disputes among certain Cabinet and State Ministers. However, SLPP General Secretary and MP, attorney Sagara Kariyawasam on an earlier occasion said that he did not see any truth to such reports as the ruling Party had not been informed of any such preparation. “If there is a preparation for a Cabinet reshuffle, I believe that President Wickremesinghe would discuss it with the SLPP, which is the ruling Party, but there has been no such discussion.”