The Government appointed more Ministers recently, pictured here with President Maithripala Sirisena
I think you might have read with some interest – or no small measure of irritation – the news that the Government has appointed five more ministers. To some, this announcement would have come as a surprise (what, five more… now? at this late stage close to a possible dissolution of Parliament!). To others, the appointments appear to be something of a shock (who on earth are these people – is there no one more suitable?!).
But for those who recognise that realpolit…
There is certainly an element of strum und drang in the air. To be fair, this storm and stress has been relatively small-scale: threats of non-cooperation never carried out; sabre-rattling over no-confidence motions that were eventually thrown out or stymied; exchanges of unparliamentary words. To be realistic, these elemental stirrings in the House and beyond its pale betoken that there’s something (if not rotten, at least) rapidly turning rancid in the state of our democracy.