Sports minister's power to appoint interim committees will be taken off: SL president
Colombo, Dec 9: Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe said he is mulling a regulation with which sports minister's power to appoint interim committees would be taken off.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) was suspended by the ICC for government interference last month and the global body has also shifted the U-19 World Cup to South Africa.
It was after Sri Lanka's sports minister Roshan Ranasinghe decided to sack the governing body and appoint an interim committee headed by World Cup-winning former captain Arjuna Ranatunga.
The SLC management had been fired by the sports minister based on irregularities in a government audit report concerning the board's expenditure on participation at the T20 World Cup in Australia last year.
Wickremesinghe sacked Ranasinghe for his action on November 27.
Addressing the 150th anniversary of the Colombo Colts Cricket Club, a leading domestic club, Wickremesinghe said he planned to rid the cricket administration completely of politics.
The existing 1973 sports law permits the minister to sack governing bodies while the minister must personally endorse all Sri Lankan national representation team selections.
"With the current commercialization of cricket it is important to keep the game away from politics," he said.
He said the current sports minister Harin Fernando was communicating with the ICC in order to lift the ban imposed by the world body.
The sports minister is to report to the court next week his position on the interim committee appointed by his predecessor.
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Bengaluru: First-time Congress MLAs with merit can be made ministers, says Moily
Bengaluru: Former Chief Minister Marpadi Veerappa Moily on Tuesday said that first-time Congress legislators could be considered for ministerial berths during the proposed Cabinet reshuffle if they have the requisite merit.
Moily responded to reports of over 30 first-time Congress MLAs seeking Cabinet positions by stressing the need for a Cabinet with a balance of merit among first-time, young, and senior leaders.
“We entered politics when the Chief Minister Devaraj Urs recognised us in 1972. If legislators have merit and dedication, they can be included in the Cabinet,” Deccan Herald quoted him as saying.
He said that there is nothing wrong with new MLAs aspiring for ministerial posts and that no one has the moral authority to question such aspirations. He recalled that he, too, was a newcomer in his early political days and said those with eligibility should be given ministerial posts.
“If the MLAs have merit, the Chief Minister will recognise them. In our time, we did not lobby for ministerial berths. We were recognised by the Chief Minister,” he said.
Addressing demands for a change in Chief Minister and current talk of a Cabinet reshuffle, Moily said that legislators voicing aspirations should not be seen as engaging in groupism.
He also said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is scheduled to visit Karkala in Udupi district on Wednesday.
