Human Rights Commission to get new Chairman after polls

The post of Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission which fell vacant after the resignation of existing Chairperson Deepika Udugama will be filled by the new constitutional council that will be appointed after the general elections, a statement from the media unit in Parliament said.

“The existing Constitutional Council (CC) had decided to hand over the task of filling vacancies of several commissions including the post of new Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission to the new commission which will be appointed after the next general election,” the statement said.

The Constitutional Council met yesterday(03) and was chaired by its Chairman Karu Jayasuriya at the Speaker's official residence. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, along with former members of Parliament Mahinda Samarasinghe and Bimal Ratnayake were present at the meeting . Civil Society representatives Javed Yousuf and Naganathan Selvakumaran, Secretary-General of the Constitutional Council and Secretary-General to the Parliament Dhammika Dassanayake were also present.

At the inception,The Chairman welcomed the members of the council and thanked them for attending the meeting amidst their busy schedules.

The Constitutional Council considered the nominations received for the vacancies that exist in the Public Service Commission, Human Rights Commission and the office of the Reparations and decided to further consider the nominations at the next meeting. The Chairman informed the members that due to the small window which exists from this meeting to the next Parliament it would be better for the new Chairman and members to decide on the nominations.

The CC also considered the quarterly reports received by the Finance Commission, the Delimitation Commission, the Audit Service Commission and the National Procurement Commission.

The Constitutional Council noted that Dr.Deepika Udagama had tendered her resignation from the post of Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka with effect from September 2020 and appreciated the role played by her in elevating the status of the commission. The Chairman informed the Constitutional Council that the Human Rights Commission had been rated as one of the best in the world and that he would like to convey His appreciation to the Chairperson and the members of the commission for the exceptional achievement.

The Chairman informed that this would be the last Constitutional Council meeting that he would be chairing and thanked The Prime Minister and the members of the council for the support extended during his tenure. The Chairman appreciated with gratitude that it was possible for the Council to take decisions unanimously without any disagreement throughout the service he rendered as Chairman.

He also thanked the Secretary General and the staff of the Parliament for the assistance given to the council to conduct its meetings in an efficient and orderly manner. He thanked all the independent commissions for the cooperation they extended to the Constitutional Council.

The Prime Minister thanked the Chairman and former Speaker for conducting all meetings in a cordial atmosphere accommodating various views of all members of the council. Mahinda Samarasinghe, concurred with the sentiments expressed by the Prime Minister.

Bimal Rathnayake while appreciating the role played by the Chairman in his tenure, expressed the view that Karu Jayasuriya was an exceptional Speaker who stood by the Parliament at all times. He further stated that Jayasuriya had played a key role in developing the Parliament to suit modern requirements.

Javid Yusuf also expressing his views stated that the Chairman played a pivotal role in balancing the views of all members of the Constitutional Council, most of which represented various political parties who had different views in respect of matters considered by the Council. Naganthan Selvakumar also thanked the Chairman for the role played by him. (Yohan Perera)