SLFP agrees to offer cabinet portfolios to UNP dissidents

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 January 2007, 05:56 GMT]
Sixty-one member central working committee of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), main constituent of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UNP) government Wednesday night unanimously decided to accommodate dissident parliamentarians of the main United National Party (UNP) in the cabinet reshuffling expected to take place shortly, party sources said.

The central working committee met Wednesday at Temple Trees residence with President Mahinda Rajapakse who is also the President of the SLFP in the chair.

The committee discussed several matters including finding a political solution to the ethnic conflict, security situation of the country and the question of accommodating UNP dissident parliamentarians in the cabinet without any objection, the sources said.

The meeting commenced around 7 p.m. on Wednesday night concluded after about two hours.

Decisions taken at this meeting are expected to be placed in the executive committee meeting of the SLFP which is scheduled to meet on January 19 Friday for formal ratification. Thereafter the UNP dissident parliamentarians would be offered cabinet rank minister posts in the cabinet reshuffle which is expected to take place during the beginning of next week, accoring to the sources said.