Parliamentary Council ratifies members of five independent commissions

By Yohan Perera   

The Parliamentary Council which met yesterday ratified names of the members of five commissions yesterday and had sent them to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Parliament sources said yesterday.   

The commissions which were ratified include Finance, Elections, Police Commission and Bribery Commission.   
The Finance Commission will be chaired by the former Secretary of the Finance Ministry Sumith Abeysinghe while its two ex-officio members are Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Governor Prof. W. D. Lakshman and the Secretary of the Finance Ministry S. R. Attygalle. Its other two members are Razik Zarook PC and Sinnathamby Samithamby.   

The National Election Commission will have five members and it will be headed by Nimal G. Punchihewa who has served as the Commission’s legal advisor for several years while its other members are M. M. Mohamed, S. B. Divaratne, Jeevan Thyagarajah and K.P.P. Pathirana. 

• The Commissions which were ratified include Finance, Elections, Police, Bribery and Public Service  

The number of members of the elections commission were increased from three to five under the 20th Amendment to the Constitution.   

The Public Service Commission (PSC) will be headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Jagath Balapatabendi while its members includes Indrani Sugathadasa, Leelasena Liyanagama, Dr. T.R.C. Ruberu, Dian Gomes, W.H. Piyadasa, Dilith Jayaweera, V. Sivagnanasothy and A.L.M. Saleem.   

The National Police Commission will be headed by retired Inspector General of Police Chandra Fernando and its members are S. Liyanagama, Sanjeewa Pathirana, M.S.M. Samsudeen, Premasiri Fernando, Gunapala Wickramage and T.P. Parameswaran. 

 
The Bribery Commission will be headed by Justice Eva Wanasundara, retired Justice Deepali Wijesundara and Chandra Nimal Wakistha.