AG’s advice sought to fill Salinda’s slot

By Sujith Hewajulige   

With the demise of the Kurunegala District UPFA Parliamentarian Salinda Dissanayake, filling up his vacancy in Parliament has now turned out to be an issue. In order to resolve this the Kurunegala Returning officer and District Secretary Gamini Illangarathne had sought the instructions from the Attorney General.   

When made inquiries Gamini Illangarathne said that instructions from the Attorney General had not been received yet, and he would act accordingly once these instructions are received. MP Salinda Dissanayake passed away recently and it is now nearly a month and filling up his vacancy remains unattended.   

The next person who had received the next highest after Salinda Dissanayake in the preferential votes of the UPFA list of the Kurunegala District was former Deputy Minister Shantha Bandara. He had been functioning as national list MP at the time of the death of MP Salinda.   

Accordingly, former Wayamba Provincial Councillor D. B. Herath was the most suitable person to fill this vacancy as he was the next in the preferential votes list.   
However, with the resignation of Shantha Bandara on August 7, opting to be selected on the votes he had polled at the election, this issue had surfaced as revealed by the relevant sources.