SundayTimes
Opposition legislators unlikely to head both bodies
Hambantota district MP Namal Rajapaksa and Minister Mervyn Silva are among the 17 Government members who have been nominated to serve on the 31-member Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprise (COPE) in the new Parliament.
Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa has announced the names of members to the two Parliamentary oversight committees namely the COPE and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) but as to who will head them would be decided at the first meetings of the two committees scheduled for early June.
Chief Opposition Whip John Amaratunga had written to the Speaker requesting that the posts of chairmen of the two Committees be given to Opposition legislators but this is unlikely to happen as the majority of the members on the 31-member committees are from the Government.
Among the other Government members nominated to serve on COPE are A.H.M.Azwer, Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Susil Premajayantha, Dr.Rajitha Senaratna, D.E.W.Gunasekera, Chandrasiri Gajadeera, Jagath Pushpakumara, T.B.Ekanayaka, Mahinda Amaraweera, S.M.Chandrasena, Lasantha Alagiyawanna, Sarana Gunawardena, Weerakumara Dissanayaka, Rajiva Wijesinha and Aturaliya Ratana Thera.
The Opposition members on COPE are UNPers Karu Jayasuriya, Lakshman Kiriella, Ravi Karunanayaka, Dayasiri Jayasekera, Rosy Senanayaka Sujeewa Senasinghe, Sajith Premadasa, Eran Wickramaratna, all of the UNP, M.T.Hassen Ali (SLMC), A.Vinyagamoorthy, E.Sarvanapavan and S.Yogeswaran of the TNA and Sunil Handunnetti and Arjuna Ranatunga of the DNA.
The Government members appointed to serve on the PAC are Dr.Sarath Amunugama, Anura Priyadharshana Yapa, Tissa Karaliyadda, Bandula Gunawardena, Janaka Bandara Tennakoon, Champika Ranawaka, Johnston Fernando, Muthu Sivalingam, Dilan Perera, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Ranjith Siyambalapitiyta, Nirmala Kotalawala, Jagath Balasuriya, Achala Jagoda, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Janaka Priyantha Bandara and Uvais Farook
The Opposition members on the PAC are Rauff Hakeem (SLMC), Lakshman Seneviratna, Kabeer Hashim, Wijedasa Rajapakse, R.Yogarajan, Harsha de Silva, Buddhika Pathirana and Akila Viraj Kariyawasan, all of the UNP, Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, Tiran Alles and Ajith P.Perera (DNA) and S.Sritharan, Mavai Senathirajah and M.A.Sumanthiran of the TNA.