Minister de Silva appointed Select Committee Chairman

Uditha Kumarasinghe, Irangika Range and Sandasen Marasinghe

Speaker W. J. M. Lokubandara yesterday told Parliament that Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva has been appointed the Chairman of the special Parliament Select Committee to probe into an alleged secret pact reached between the LTTE and several others.

The UNP opposed in Parliament yesterday the appointment of Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva as the Chairman Committee.

After Speaker W. J. M. Lokubandara announced that Minister de Silva had been appointed the Chairman of the Committee, Opposition whip Joseph Michael Perera expressed dissatisfaction about appointing a Government Minister to the post.

Chief Government Whip Dinesh Gunawardane said the Speaker has been vested with powers to appoint the Chairman of this committee.

“Therefore this is a decision taken by the Speaker based on existing traditions.”

Speaker Lokubandara said among the names proposed for the post. Minister de Silva was the most senior person.

The Speaker said Minister de Silva is a well experienced politician who has represented the Government in peace talks in Geneva.

Other members of the committee are D. M. Jayaratne, Mahinda Wijesekera, Susil Pramajayantha, Mano Wijeratne, Hemakumara Nanayakkara, Jagath Pushpakumara, S. M. Chandrasena, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Sarath Kumara Gunaratne, Basil Rajapaksa, Joseph Michael Perera, John Amaratunga, Mangala Samaraweera, Ravi Karunanayake, Vijitha Herath, Johnston Fernando, Chandrasena Wijesinghe, Bimal Ratnayake, K. Thurairathnasingham and P. Ariyanethran.