20 February 2018 09:10 pm
He said this when the Opposition asked him about the composition of the Cabinet. "I and the Leader of the House will look into the matter and inform the House," he said.
Chief Opposition whip Anura Kumara Dissanayake who raised this matter initially said the number of ministers was increased from 30 to 40 while deputy ministers and state ministers had been increased from 40 to 45 with the approval of the House in 2015. However, he said the national government was formed for a period of two years and that period had lapsed.
"We ask questions from the ministers but we do not know whether they are ministers under the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. In such a scenario how can we accept them as ministers," Mr. Dissanayake said.
Joint opposition MP Dallas Allhaperuma said the leaders of both UNP and SLFP should inform the Speaker in writing if they were continuing with the national government and asked whether Speaker had been notified by the two parties.
The Speaker said he had not been notified about the status quo yet. (Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana)