Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena today (Sep 23) announced to the parliament the list of MPs who have been nominated for the ‘National Council’, which was established as per the proposal of Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.

The National Council consists of members representing parliament from the respective political parties.

The Speaker of Parliament will serve as the chairman. The National Council will consist of the Prime Minister, Leader of the House, the Leader of the Opposition, the Chief Government Whip, the Chief Opposition Whip and not more than thirty-five (35) Members of Parliament.

Members of Parliament nominated to the ‘National Council’ established are as follows:

Douglas Devananda, Naseer Ahamed, Tiran Alles, Sisira Jayakody, Sivanesathurai Santhirakanthan, Johnston Fernando, Rauff Hakeem, Pavithradevi Wanniarachchi, Wajira Abeywardana, A.L.M. Athaullah, Prof. Tissa Vitarana, Rishad Bathiudeen, Wimal Weerawansa, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Palani Thigambaram, Mano Ganesan, Udaya Gammanpila, Rohitha Abegunawardhana, Namal Rajapaksa, Jeevan Thondaman, G.G. Ponnambalam, Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thero, Asanka Navarathna, Ali Sabri Raheem, C.V. Wigneswaran,. Weerasumana Weerasinghe and Sagara Kariyawasam.

Since the names of a few other parliamentarians are to be received, the announcement of such names has been scheduled for the near future.

The resolution proposed by PM Gunawardena to constitute the Parliamentary Committee called ‘National Council’ was passed in Parliament on September 20, 2022 without objection.

One of them is to determine the general priorities of parliament to guide the formulation of short, medium, and long-term national policies, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said.

Another responsibility is to agree on short-term and medium-term common minimum programs related to economic stabilization.

It is also tasked with organizing special meetings with the Cabinet of Ministers, the National Council, the Chairperson of Special Committees and Youth Observers of Youth Organizations.

The ‘National Council’ also has the power to summon reports from the Sectoral Oversight Committees, the Committee on Public Finance, the Committee on Public Accounts, the Committee on Public Enterprises and any committee that controls the public finance.