Mangala opposes portfolio sacrifice

Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera has refused to part with any of his multiple cabinet portfolios to please UNP dissident group members, saying such a move was unwarranted.

In a strongly-worded letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa earlier this week, Minister Samaraweera who also holds the Ports and Civil Aviation portfolios, pointed out that he sacrificed all his cabinet portfolios when the PA administration of President Chandrika Kumaratunga formed a probationary government with the JVP in 2001. However, he said he did not see the necessity for sacrificing his portfolios at a time when the government was in a position of strength.

He also pointed out that some of the UNP members who were being taken to the government were responsible for making allegations against Mr. Rajapaksa in the run-up to the Presidential elections. “I am not willing to sacrifice portfolios for a group of persons who are politically stranded,” Mr. Samaraweera said in his letter, admitting, however, the President had the powers and right to make cabinet changes.

Mr. Samaraweera also said the MoU signed with the UNP added strength to the government and the decision to accept some of the dissent UNP members was a serious threat to the MoU. He said that disregarding the MoU would benefit only opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.