How Numbers Can Mislead: Does Retaining the Limit to The Appointment of Cabinet and Other Ministers Solve Administrative Inefficiency?

Abstract

This article discusses how, besides the obvious financial costs borne by having to maintain large cabinets, the focus on cabinet size alone in constitutional amendments proposed and passed conceals other problematic aspects impacting the way our governments function. Little attention is paid to the instability that arises within ministries as they are changed multiple times within a short time span. The inefficiencies arising from the merging of ministry portfolios as a result of unrelated sectors being clumped together escape unnoticed. They hide the costly implications associated with cabinet formation in Sri Lanka — the inability to maintain smooth coordination, hold Ministers and Government agencies accountable and to ensure the Cabinet functions in accordance with its mandate.