C'wealth Parliamentary Union conference in UK:

Speaker among participants

Ishara MUDUGAMUWA

Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa will be among several participants at the 57th conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Union to mark its 100th anniversary which will be held from July 22 to 28 in UK under the patronage of Queen Elizabeth the 2nd, a release from the Speaker's Office said.

The theme of the conference is Reinforcing democracy.

The release said senior politicians representing 53 Commonwealth countries will participate.

Other than Speaker Rajapaksa, Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe Irrigation and Water Resources Management Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, Plantation Industries Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, Parliamentarian Sudarshani Fernandopulle, TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran, Secretary General of Parliament Dhammika Kithulgoda and Deputy Secretary General of Parliament W.B.D. Dassanayake will also participate in the conference. They will leave the country.

The Next Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference will be held in Sri Lanka on September 2012. Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa is scheduled to be appointed as the next chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Union while President Mahinda Rajapaksa is scheduled to be appointed the deputy patron of the Conference.