Colombo, February 1 (AIR): The ruling United National Party (UNP) led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe brought a resolution in parliament on Thursday, for the formation of a National Government, which will be a formal coalition of a number of parties.
The Leader of the House and Minister Laxman Kiriella told AIR that the resolution will come up for voting next Thursday.
The resolution stated that the UNP would form a national government with several parties that would uphold the principles of “good governance.”
Kiriella said that the names of the parties would be announced later.
The formation of a National Government will enable the government to increase the size of the Cabinet of Ministers from 30 to 45 and increase the number of other Ministers from 40 to 55, which will, in turn, allow the ruling party to gather strength in parliament.
The UNP had earlier proposed to form a National Government with few MPs from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led by President Maithripala Sirisena, but the move was not supported by the President.
UNP and SLFP had earlier run a National Government after the Presidential and parliamentary elections in 2015 but the SLFP’s withdrawal from the government in October 2018 and the appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime minister on October 26 last year led to a 50-day constitutional crisis in the country.
(The featured image at the top is that of Sri Lankan Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe)
