Nihal Seneviratne on his experiences in Parliament
“A clerk reminisces & humour in Parliament” will be the title of the lecture by former Secretary General of Parliament Nihal Seneviratne at the 113th Session of the monthly lecture series of the National Trust - Sri Lanka. It will be held at the HNB Auditorium, 22nd Floor, HNB Towers, 479 T.B. Jayah Mawatha, Colombo 10 at 6.30p.m. on Thursday, January 31.
Nihal Seneviratne will touch on his experiences in Parliament, when at the Galle Face Building, House of Representatives and the move to Sri Jayawadenapura Kotte, He served under seven Speakers from R.S. Pelpola to K.B. Ratnayake. His primary task was advising the Speaker on questions of Parliamentary procedure and privilege. In addition, he had a staff of 800 and was Head of Administration responsible for all Legislative Committees, Hansard, Parliamentary Hierarchy, Interpretation Department and Refreshers areas and Gardens Mr. Seneviratne is a distinguished retired Civil Servant who joined the Parliament in June 1961 as Second Clerk Assistant and was promoted to Clerk Assistant in 1975, then rising to be Clerk of House of Representatives and Secretary General Parliament from 1977 to 1994.
He received training in Parliamentary procedures and practices in the House of Commons UK, House of Commons Canada, and Congress – United States of America, having participated in over 30 Commonwealth and Inter Parliamentary Union Conferences in different capitals from 1961 to 1994 accompanying Parliamentary delegations.
After retirement, he served as Parliamentary Advisor to Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake and Speaker Anura Dias Bandaranaike.
He is presently a Member of the Public Services Commission and Chairman of the Dispute Resolution Council, Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka. Mr. Seneviratne studied at Royal College, Colombo and obtained his LLB in Law from the University of Ceylon Peradeniya in 1958. He is an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Ceylon.
Further information can be obtained from the National Trust Office- tel 2682730 / 0778081214 at the Post Graduate Institute of Archaeology, 407, Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 7.