With the enforcement of the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, the parliamentary authorities are now taking steps to establish the Constitutional Council (CC), an official said.
The CC is a ten-member body that, once constituted, will appoint members to the Independent Commissions. According to the Constitution, the CC will comprise three ex officio members – the Speaker, the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader. Three civil society members have to be nominated by the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader together . In addition , the Prime Minister nominates his member and the Opposition Leader his representative. The tenth member is nominated as a representative of the small parties sitting in the opposition. Except three civil society members , all others have to be MPs.
Secretary General of Parliament Dammika Dasanayake told Daily Mirror that the parliamentary authorities were taking preliminary steps to constitute the CC .
“Parliament will meet next week . Then , we will work out arrangements,” he said.
The CC previously existed under the 19th Amendment and the 17th Amendment. It was scrapped in terms of the 18th and 20th Amendments to be replaced with Parliamentary Councils.
Source – Daily Mirror
