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The unexpected outcome of the local government (LG) elections held earlier this month, seems to have left both the Government as well as the Opposition confused about what exactly they intend to do next.

The ‘Joint Opposition’ (JO) group which operates with the blessings of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, called for a snap general election soon after its excellent showing at the polls, but remained non-committal on the matter when Parliament met this week for the first time after the LG elections.

The Government side, namely the United National Party (UNP), for its part, put on a brave face and acted confident, despite the beating it took at the elections, while members of the UPFA-SLFP wing headed by President Maithripala Sirisena, remained aloof, as the initial calls for a change in premiership and in the composition of the Government, subsided.

The main issue that the JO, along with the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), raised this week was the legality of the National Unity Government, in the absence of a written agreement between the UNP and UPFA-SLFP to continue their alliance.

Their question is related to the section in the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which allows for Parliament to determine the number of Cabinet Ministers as well as Deputy Ministers in a National Government, but in a government formed by a single party, the total number of Cabinet Ministers is restricted to 30, while the number of other ministers is restricted to 40.

JO Parliamentary Group Leader Dinesh Gunewardena who questioned the legality of the Government said, “The Unity Government was formed between the UNP and one of the parties of the UPFA. According to the Constitution, it was mandatory to submit the written agreement between these two parties to Parliament,” he said.

JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayaka pointed out that the term of a Unity Government between the SLFP and UNP had come to an end on Dec. 31, 2017.

Parliament approval had been obtained in 2015 for a term of two years, and the number of ministers, deputy ministers and state ministers was increased due to this, and that the term has now expired. If the Unity Government goes on, it needs to renew Parliament approval,” he said.

On Wednesday, both Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and UPFA General Secretary Mahinda Amaraweera assured the House that the agreement between the two sides is still in place, and there has been no decision to revoke it.

Speaker Karu Jayasuirya too informed Parliament on Thursday, that he had sought legal opinion on the matter and was told there was no question regarding the legality of the National Unity Government and that, it could continue as long as both sides are in agreement, even though no written agreement was tabled in Parliament.

Meanwhile, a scheduled two-day debate on the Bond Commission as well as Presidential Commission of Inquiry to investigate and inquire into Serious Acts of Fraud, Corruption and Abuse of Power, State Resources and Privileges (PRECIFAC) did not take place this week, due to the non-availability of copies of the reports in all three languages.

At present, the Bond Commission Report is available in English, while the PRECIFAC report is available in Sinhala. With both Reports running into thousands of pages, there has been a long delay in getting them translated into all three languages, the Speaker informed the House.

TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran said that unless the reports are available in all three languages, the debate should not take place. The debate was hence, postponed indefinitely.

With a Cabinet reshuffle, there will be new Ministers in place when Parliament next meets. The shuffling of portfolios is unlikely to afford any quick fixes for the woes of this Government, unless it undertakes some major policy changes to go with the new faces in the Cabinet.