Appointments to CC: Party leaders to meet on Tuesday

Party leaders will meet on Tuesday for talks on appointing members to the Constitutional Council (CC) established under the newly passed 21st Amendment to the Constitution.

The matter is to be taken up for discussion during the Committee on Parliamentary Business meeting with Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena presiding. The CC members will be tasked with approving nominations of those who will serve as chairpersons and members of independent commissions and apppointments to senior judicial and government posts.

The Speaker, the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader are ex-officio members of the CC.

Meanwhile, President Ranil Wickremesinghe decided to nominate Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva as his nominee to the Constitutional Council, the Sunday Times learned.

The ten member Constitutional Council would also comprise one MP nominated by a majority of Government MPs, one MP nominated by a majority of Opposition MPs, three people nominated by the Speaker with the agreement of the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader and one MP nominated with the agreement of MPs other than those representing the Government and the Opposition.

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara said his party had still not decided on a nominee for CC, but he expected a name to be announced next week.

Nominations for these posts, including the three members to be appointed from outside Parliament, would be called next week.

Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said he expected the full ten member CC to be in place by the time President and Finance Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe presented the 2023 Budget to Parliament on November 14.