CC being constituted: President nominates Nimal Siripala as his representative

• PM and Opposition Leader assure that they would name their nominees without delay
• A decision made to publish a newspaper advertisement calling for applications to appoint three persons who are not Members of Parliament

By Yohan Perera

The process of establishing the Constitutional Council has begun with President Ranil Wickremesinghe naming Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva as his nominee for the council, a statement from Parliament media unit said yesterday.

Minister de Silva together with Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, and Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa had met twice during this week where the Speaker as the Chairman of the Constitutional Council had requested the Prime Minister and Leader of Opposition to name their nominees to the council without delay.

Both the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition had assured that they would name their nominees without delay. A decision has been made to publish a newspaper advertisement calling for applications to appoint three persons who are not Members of Parliament, as Members of the Constitutional Council and provide the interested parties a period of two weeks to submit their applications. The advertisement will be published in both weekday and weekend newspapers, and the format for the application will be published on the Official Web Site of Parliament.

The constitutional council comprises the Speaker, Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition, President’s nominee, and MPs representing the party which the leader of the opposition belongs to and other small parties representing the opposition and three members from the civil society.