All ministerial portfolios of the national government will be filled by the middle of next week, political sources said.

The President appointed 42 Cabinet Ministers yesterday. This brought the total number of Ministers to 43, since Mangala Samaraweera had already taken oaths as Foreign Minister.

The Parliament on Thursday approved the President to appoint 48 Cabinet Ministers and 45 State and Deputy Ministers. Accordingly, five Cabinet Ministers and the 45 other ministers are yet to be appointed.

Meanwhile, the President yesterday said that the Cabinet will have 33 UNP and 15 SLFP ministers. The 43 ministers appointed include 32 from UNP and 11 from SLFP. Therefore, one UNP MP and four SLFP MPs will be appointed as Cabinet Ministers.

Furthermore, reports indicated that the SLFP will be given 18 state and deputy ministerial portfolios.