New Civil Society Members Appointed to Constitutional Council

COLOMBO (News 1st); An agreement has been reached between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition regarding the appointment of three civil society representatives to fill existing vacancies on the Constitutional Council.

Under the Constitution, three civil society members must be appointed to the Constitutional Council based on a joint agreement between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.

Accordingly, consensus has been reached to appoint Professor Wasantha Seneviratne of the Colombo Law Faculty, former Secretary to the President Austin Fernando, and former Ministry Secretary Ranjith Ariyaratne as the three civil society representatives.

The terms of office of the previous civil society members of the Constitutional Council, Dr. Anula Wijesundara, Dr. Prathap Ramanujam, and Professor Dinesha Samararatne, expired on the 16th of this month.

The Speaker of Parliament serves as the Chairperson of the Constitutional Council by virtue of office, while the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition are also ex-officio members.

In addition, Minister Bimal Ratnayake and Members of Parliament Ajith P. Perera, Aboobucker Athambawa, and Sivagnanam Shritharan are the other members of the current Constitutional Council.

The Prime Minister informed Parliament this afternoon of the names of the three civil society representatives appointed to the Constitutional Council.