Speaker clarifies procedure for appointing members to the Constitutional Council

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya explaining the procedure for appointing members to the Constitutional Council said he will send nominations to the President as soon as he receives the list.

The official tenure of the ten-member Constitutional Council, Sri Lanka’s constitutional authority, ended on 21 September and under the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, Constitutional Council is the responsible body to appoint members to the independent commissions such as police commission, bribery commission and election commission. Among the ten members of the council, three are official members. They are the Speaker, Prime Minister and Opposition Leader. The Speaker holds the chairmanship of the Council while the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader are ex-officio members. One member is appointed by the President and another five members are appointed by the President, on the nomination of both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. Among these five members three should be civil society representatives.

One other person is appointed by the members of the parliament from a political party other than the parties to which the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition belong.

The Speaker has not yet received the list of nominations for the five members to be nominated by the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader and the nominee from the other political parties, Speaker’s Office said.

Immediately after receiving the list of nominations, the Speaker will send the list to the President, the office added.