Prime Minister and Opposition Leader given another week to nominate persons to Sri Lanka's Parliamentary Council

Sri Lanka's Prime Minister and Opposition Leader have been given another week to send the names of their nominees to the Parliamentary Council established by the recently added 18th Amendment to the Constitution.

Secretary General of Parliament Dhammika Kitulgoda told the local media today (27) that the two leaders have been granted one more week to submit their nominations.
Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa last week wrote to Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe tasking him to nominate another name to the Parliamentary Council since the person nominated by him has refused to accept the nomination.

Rajapaksa said that he would forward the names of the Prime Minister's and the Opposition Leader's nominees to President Mahinda Rajapaksa soon after the Opposition Leader nominates a new name.

The Opposition Leader nominated the Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran who refused to accept the nomination, saying the party opposed the 18th Amendment.

The Speaker, Prime Minister, and the Opposition Leader are to serve as ex-officio members of the five- member Parliamentary Council.

The formation of the Parliamentary Council under the 18th Amendment has now been delayed due to issues on nominating persons to the Council.