Six new members will be appointed to the Constitutional Council (CC), which stands defunct at present, after October 5, Deputy Secretary General and Chief of Staff of Parliament, Neil Iddawala told the Sunday Observer yesterday.
He said October 5 is the closing date for newspaper advertisements calling for applications for three civil society members. Some names of the civil society members have already been received.
With top posts such as the post of Chief Justice and Attorney General due to fall vacant within the next two weeks, it is crucial that the Constitutional Council comes into force soon, as the Council is vested with powers to make recommendations for the appointments.
According to the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, the Prime Minister, the Speaker and the Opposition Leader act as ex-officio members.
Five members will be appointed by the President on the nomination of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, of whom, two shall be Members of Parliament. One Member of Parliament is nominated by agreement of the majority of the Members of Parliament belonging to political parties or independent groups, other than the respective political parties or independent groups to which the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition belong.
In addition, one Member of Parliament is appointed by the President and Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe has already been appointed accordingly.
Parliamentary sources said the tenure of the CC members W.D.J. Seneviratne, Vijitha Herath, Tilak Marapana, Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne, Shibly Aziz and Radhika Coomaraswamy ended on September 22. Therefore, six people will be appointed to fill these vacancies after October 5.
The CC is a 10-member constitutional authority tasked with maintaining independent commissions and monitoring their affairs. The CC is aimed at depoliticising the public service. Under the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, the CC is responsible for appointing members to the nine Independent Commissions.