Let the President and the PM handle Cabinet reshuffle, says Range Bandara

Shamal Senarath says only party funds used for cut outs

State Minister of Skills Development Palitha Range Bandara yesterday said he has mixed feelings about the present government.

“I am frustrated about certain things but satisfied with some other aspects such as enforcement of law against corruption,” the State Minister told a media briefing last morning.

Responding to a question raised by journalists as to whether he would get a Cabinet portfolio in a Cabinet reshuffle, the State Minister said he did not expect any Ministerial position.

“The President has to appoint Cabinet Ministers in consultation with the Prime Minister in accordance with the 19th Amendment to the Constitution and let both of them handle the appointments,” he said.

The State Minister said his party had not spent State funds for the cutouts of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that had come out on the streets in Colombo.

He came out with this statement when the journalists questioned as to how the UNP which criticised the erection of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa heavily during the last regime had put out cutouts of present Prime Minister today.

“You must be referring to the cut outs that have been erected for the May Day. Only party funds have been spent for these following the advice of Prime Minister himself. State funds will not be used even to hire busses from the SLTB,” he said. Meanwhile, National Organiser of the UNP Propaganda Unit and Leader of Opposition North Western Province Shamal Senarath, who also participated in the media briefing, said what the Government intended was to make use of the 84 oil tanks in Trincomalee, which have been abandoned and in a bad shape. “These tanks have been neglected so much that these are among shrubs today,” he said.

The President has to appoint Cabinet Ministers in consultation with the Prime Minister in accordance with the 19th Amendment