Prez argues CC part of executive branch of govt.

By Saman Indrajith

President Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament that the Constitutional Council was part of the Executive.Making a special statement, the President said that as per the Supreme Court determination on the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, the Constitution Council came under the purview of the Executive.

If there was no agreement on his contention that the CC was a part of the Executive, then a committee could be appointed by Parliament to ascertain its standing. TNA MP Sumanthiran had stated in this House that the CC was not a part of the executive, the President said.

But as per the Article 14.d the CC was under the executive branch of the government as per Article 17 of the Constitution, President Wickremesinghe said.

“The CC was created on the basis of proposals by former Minister Choksy, former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya and me. We proposed this to be a part of the executive. This was formed to assist the Executive President in making his appointments,” He said.