The recent 18th Amendment has empowered Speaker of the Parliament to appoint a member to the new Parliamentary Council, if the Opposition Leader fails to execute his responsibility, Minister of Mass Media and Information said today.
Minister Rambukwella said the Speaker will be entrusted with the powers to appoint the relevant representative to the parliamentary council if the Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe fails to select his nominee for the Parliamentary Council within next week.
The Minister said the Government will establish all commissions set up under the 18th Amendment from January 1, 2011.
Wickremasinghe nominated Tamil national Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian M.A Sumanthiran as his nominee to the Parliamentary Council last Thursday but the TNA MP rejected the nomination. The UNP leader is yet t make a fresh nomination.