President concerned by impartiality of OMP commissioners

• President has conveyed his doubts to the relevant authorities

 By Skandha Gunasekara

President Maithripala Sirisena had expressed doubts regarding some of the commissioners appointed to the Office of Missing Persons (OMP), Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe revealed on 25 April.

Addressing the media, Minister Samarasinghe said that President Sirisena had questioned the impartiality of several of the OMP commissioners.

“The President raised questions as to whether some of these commissioners would act independently of the OMP,” Samarasinghe said.

While appointments to the OMP were made on 1 March in accordance with recommendations of the Constitutional Council, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution permitted the President to postpone appointments for a further two weeks. Before he is compelled to make the appointments nominated by the Constitutional Council, Minister Samarasinghe explained adding that President Sirisena had notified the relevant authorities of his concerns.

PC Saliya Peiris was appointed as the Chairman of the Commission along with members Dr. Sriyani Nimalka Fernando, Jayadeepa Punniyamoorthy, Major General (Rtd) Mohanti Antoinette Peiris, Somasiri K. Liyanage, and Kanapathipillai Venthan, on 8 March by President Sirisena.