Prime Minister D.M. Jayarathne has not taken part in the weekly for nearly two months.

Although Sri Lanka's best selling weekend Sinhala newspaper 'Sunday Lankadeepa' dubbed it as a cabinet boycott, sources close to the Prime Minister said he could not take part in cabinet meetings due to 'health issues'.

The Prime Minister's boycott was highlighted over the past two months thanks to the more 'overt' boycott carried out by Minister Wimal Weerawansa. 

However, this comes in the wake of unconfirmed stories saying Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena is tipped to be appointed as the Prime Minister at the next cabinet reshuffle.

Jayarathne earned the ire of top echelons of the government when he protested in the Gampola town when his son, Anuradha Jayarathne, was not appointed as the Chief Minister of the Central Province.

Just a few months later, he found himself in another controversy over a heroin scam. The government came under heavy pressure even from its own constituent parties demanding the removal of the Prime Minister.

However, two weeks ago, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa too stated that he was willing to enter active politics at the discretion of his brother, President Mahinda Rajapaksa.