Thereafter, Ranil Wickremasinghe stressed that the respective Ministers must be present to answer questions raised in the House keeping in conformity with Parliamentary traditions and appealed to the Government to address its mind to this very important matter.

Today, there are 121 members of Parliament in the House on govt benches. 108 of them are Ministers, Deputy Ministers or Ministers without cabinet ranks.

Failure on the part of a minister to be present in Parliament to answer questions means shirking off responsibility by the House and the people at large. It reflects an attitude of indifference to the House. It means a lack of accountability to the House by the Ministers.

Speaker Lokku Bandara has stated that not only Ministers but also their secretaries should be present at the question time to assist the Ministers.

Debates and the question time in the House should be meaningful. The size of the Cabinet is not important. What is of importance is the healthy conduct of the business of the House.

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