PC to consider names to 7 independent commissions today

• Former Polls Chief Mahinda Deshapriya to head 3-member Delimitation Comm.
• Finance Comm. to be headed by former Finance Min. Sec. Sumith Abeysinghe

By Chandani Kirinde

Election Commission former Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya has been named by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to head the Delimitation Commission.

His name is among those submitted by the President to the Parliamentary Council (PC) for its observations in keeping with the provisions of the 12th Amendment to the Constitution. The Council will meet today to consider the names.

The President has forwarded the names of his nominees to seven commissions including the Delimitation Commission, the Finance Commission, the National Election Commission (NEC), Public Service Commission, the Police Commission, Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) and the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption (CIABOC) to the Parliamentary Council.

Along with Deshapriya, other members of the Delimitation Commission are Jayalath Ravi Dissanayake and P.H.G. Premasiri.

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

The NEC 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 number of members on the NEC 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 Iyanagama, 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 Wickamage and T.P. Parameswaran.

The HRCSL will be headed by Jagath Balasuriya and its members are Vijitha Nanayakkara, Anushya Shanmuganadan, Harsha Nawaratne and Dr. Nimal Kumarasiri.

The three-members of the CIABOC are former Supreme Court Justice Eva Wanasundera, retired Court of Appeal Justice Deepali Wijesundera and State Intelligence Service (SIS) former Director Chandra Nimal Wakishta. The Parliamentary Council which replaced the Constitutional Council (CC) is empowered to make observations on the nominees sent by the President. It has a week to communicate its observations, failing which the President can go ahead and confirm the appointments.

The five-member PC is headed by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena and has as its two ex-officio members the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. Its two other members are Minister Douglas Devananda who is the PM’s nominee and SJB MP Kabir Hashim who is the Opposition Leader’s nominee.