Parliament approves civil society representitives of CC
September 22, 2015 03:10 pm
The Parliament today approved the 3 names nominated to represent the civil society in the Constitutional Council (CC).
The names of Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne, Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy and Shibly Aziz were nominated for the council, which will comprise seven members from the Parliament and three independent members.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya and Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan are members of the CC.
The President and Prime Minister have nominated Ministers Patali Champika Ranawaka and Wijedasa Rajapakse as their respective representatives while the JVP has nominated MP Vijitha Herath. Minister W.D.J. Seneviratne is the other parliamentarian in the council.
The Constitutional Council is tasked with establishing 9 independent commissions and monitoring it affairs.
Sarvodaya Founder Dr. Ariyaratne and former UN Under-Secretary General Dr Coomaraswamy were nominated to the council even under the previous Parliament, however Mr Aziz, an eminent President’s Counsel, was nominated for the first time.
