Nominees to be forwarded

24 September 2010 05:36 pm

By Sandun A. Jayasekera

Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa said today he would by next week forward to President Mahinda Rajapaksa the names of the two Parliamentary Council (PC) nominees selected by the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader after the impasse regarding one of the nominees was sorted out.

Mr. Rajapaksa told Daily Mirror that he had received the name of Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne’s nominee and that of Opposition Leader Ranil Wickramasinghe who named TNA member M.A. Sumanthiran.

But both the TNA and Mr. Sumanthiran refused to accept the nomination made by Mr. Wickremesinghe as the party had voted against the 18th Amendment in parliament on September 8th.

The Speaker, Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader will serve as ex-officio members of the five- member PC, which replaced the former Constitutional Council under the newly approved 18th Amendment.

“I will write to Mr. Wickremesinghe to submit another name as I am aware that Mr. Sumanthiran has turned down his nomination. I will send the two names to the president next week after sorting out the issue of Opposition Leader’s nomination, paving the way for the setting up of the Parliamentary Council,” Mr. Rajapaksa said.