Parliamentary Council

The Parliamentary Council was a constitutional authority in Sri Lanka established under the 18th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka. Formally being constituted on January 1, 2011 as per the 18th Amendment, it replaces the Constitutional Council that was established under the 17th Amendment. After Maithripala Sirisena was elected President, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe presented the new reforms to reinstate a new Constitutional Council in 2015 under the Nineteenth Amendment.

Powers and tasks

Compared to the ten member Constitutional Council, which made approval of names of nominees to the independent committees/commissions mandatory; the Parliamentary Council has powers only to recommend persons to the independent committees.^[1] The sole authority of appointing members of the independent committees was vested with the President of Sri Lanka and while he is needed to seek the observations of the council, its decisions are not binding.^[2]

Commissions

The Council recommends members to several independent committees/commissions. These are;

Public Service Commission
Human Rights Commission
Elections Commission
National Police Commission
Commission to Investigate Allegation of Bribery or Corruption
Finance Commission
Delimitation Commission.

Membership

The membership of the Parliamentary Council was made up of five members, of whom three are ex officio members and two would be nominated to ensure ethnic representation. The Prime Minister, the Opposition Leader and the Speaker are compulsory members of the committee. The Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader can nominate one person each to the committee from the communities to which the compulsory members do not belong.