Sri Lanka PAC to meet next week

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 October 2010, 04:24 GMT]
The inaugural meeting of the Parliamentary Advisory Council (PAC) established under the 18th Amendment in place of the Constitutional Council, is expected to be held next week, according to the Secretary General of Parliament, Dhammika Kithulegoda. Meanwhile, Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga, confirming that the PAC had duly been established, said the filing of names to establish the seven independent commissions was almost complete and would be gazetted shortly.

The PAC is expected to appoint members to the seven independent commissions, namely the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption and the Elections, Police, Public Service, Finance and De-limitation and Human Rights Commissions.

However, Clause 1 of the Section 41A of the 18th Amendment says that, in making appointments to the seven independent commissions, the President shall seek only the observations of the PAC.

The first meeting would focus on the laying down of guidelines, regulations and standing orders of the five member council.

Speaker Chamal Rajapakse would chair the PAC meetings though the 18th Amendment had not specifically mentioned it, according to the SG of the parliament.