COLOMBO (News 1st) – The inaugural meeting of the National Council is scheduled to be held on the 29th Thursday under the patronage of Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, at 10.30 am in Parliament.

The Speaker announced to the Parliament on 23rd September the list of members of Parliament who have been nominated for the National Council which was established as per the proposal of Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, consisting of members representing Parliament from the respective political parties.

Members of Parliament nominated to the 'National Council' established are as below;

Douglas Devananda
Hon. Naseer Ahamed
Tiran Alles
Sisira Jayakody
Sivanesathurai Santhirakanthan
Johnston Fernando
Rauff Hakeem
Pavithradevi Wanniarachchi
Wajira Abeywardana
A. L. M. Athaullah
(Prof.) Tissa Vitarana
Rishad Bathiudeen
Wimal Weerawansa
Vasudeva Nanayakkara
Palani Thigambaram
Mano Ganesan
Udaya Gammanpila
Rohitha Abegunawardhana
Namal Rajapaksa
Jeevan Thondaman
G. G. Ponnambalam
(Ven.) Athuraliye Rathana Thero
Asanka Navarathna
Ali Sabri Raheem
C.V. Wigneswaran
Weerasumana Weerasinghe
Sagara Kariyawasam

Since the names of a few other parliamentarians are to be received, the announcement of such names has been scheduled for the near future.

The resolution proposed by the Prime Minister Hon. Dinesh Gunawardena to constitute the Parliamentary Committee called 'National Council' was passed in Parliament on 20.09.2022 without objection.

One of them is determining Parliament's general priorities to guide the formulation of short,
medium, and long-term national policies, the Hon. Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said.

Another responsibility is to agree on short-term and medium-term common minimum programs
related to economic stabilization.

It is also tasked with organizing special meetings with the Ministers of the Cabinet, the National Council, the Chairperson of Special Committees, and Youth Observers of Youth Organizations. The 'National Council' also has the power to summon reports from the Sectoral Oversight Committees, the Committee on Public Finance, the Committee on Public Accounts, the Committee on Public Enterprises, and any committee that controls public finance.

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