The Chief Minister of the Eastern Province will be named today, Media Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa said yesterday.

He told the weekly Cabinet press briefing, at the Information Department, that there was no need for anyone to worry about the appointment because President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who has returned from the UK, will do the needful.

When asked why the appointment was being delayed, since there is already a pre-poll agreement on the criteria for selecting the Chief

Minister. Yapa said "That is what you are saying. The President will take a decision today."

Non-Cabinet Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said that all constituent members of the UPFA will be consulted in naming a consensus candidate for the chief ministerial post. "A National Provincial Council will be formed to sort out the matter."

It is encouraging to hear Pillaiyan saying that the issue could be resolved through discussion, he added.

Prior to the Eastern Provincial Council Election, President Rajapaksa said that the Chief Minister would be chosen from the party that secures the most number of seats.

Muslim parties in the government say that according to the President’s pledge the Chief Minister should be A. L. M. Hisbullah, while the TMVP has laid claim to the post, on the basis that its leader Pillaiyan secured the most number of preferences among UPFA candidates.