Following a request by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, Government and Opposition Members in Parliament are now discussing the names of Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSCs) nominees, the Sunday Observer reliably learns.
After the prorogation of Parliament by President Maithripala Sirisena on October 26, all PSCs were considered dissolved with immediate effect. However, the Supreme Court ruling against the dissolution of Parliament enabled the House to commence sittings despite the absence of PSCs.
Therefore, the Speaker had called upon political parties representing Parliament to submit the names of nominees for PSCs such as the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) and Committee on Public Petitions (COPP).
“We are now finalising our names to the Standing Committees. We will give those names to the Speaker in due course,” said Chief Government Organiser, Minister Lakshman Kiriella.
The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) will finalise their list of nominees by January 7. “We will hold a meeting to finalise those names on January 7. We will send those names to the Speaker’s Office by January 8,” Chief Opposition Whip, UPFA MP Mahinda Amaraweera said.
-RJA