Jan 31, Colombo: Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Secretary and Agriculture Minister Maithripala Sirisena worried about the size of Sri Lanka's new cabinet while he was assuming duties at the Agriculture Development Ministry in Battaramulla.

The Minister also stated that the new Cabinet was a heavy burden on the country’s economy. He accused government's former main ally Marxist People's Liberation Front (JVP) for not giving a guarantee for a parliamentary majority and he said that as a result the government had to accept the crossovers and to increase the number of portfolios.

The JVP Propaganda Secretary Wimal Weerawansa denied the Minister's ideas and said that the Minister was trying to relieve from his guilty consciousness.

The Minister pointed out that the alternative to ensure a parliamentary majority was by going for an election spending about two billion rupees and exacerbating the political rivalries, sharply dividing the electorate once again.

Meanwhile the first meeting of the jumbo cabinet which was scheduled to be held this week as usual was not held. Some media reported that the first meeting of the reshuffled Cabinet was postponed indefinitely due to the non-availability of a place to accommodate the jumbo Cabinet and the failure to gazette ministry subjects.