• Expected to be presented to House for approval next week

By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana

The proposal to set up a national council has finally come to the Order Book of Parliament, Parliament sources said yesterday.

 The approval of the council was postponed last week as it was not included in the Order Book.

The objective of the Executive Council is to compile long, mid-term and short-term policies, guidelines for economic stability and reach a consensus on the programmes in this regard.

The council will be chaired by Speaker, Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition, Leader of the House, Chief Government Whip, Chief Opposition Whip and 35 members of recognized political parties as per the proposal.
The Executive Council will have the mandate to call for any committee in Parliament including consultative committees, COPE, COPA, Ways and Means Committee and Public Finance.

The party leaders agreed on setting up an executive committee last week. The proposal is expected to be presented to the House for its approval next week.