Speaker names 18-member, all-male Public Finance Committee

• 13 out of 18 are Govt. members
• Chairperson to be picked at first meeting
• Standing Orders which mandated chair for Opp. lawmaker changed to allow committee to make decision

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena yesterday announced the names of the 18 members appointed to the Committee on Public Finance to serve in the newly-elected Parliament.

The members are Ministers Bandula Gunawardena, Dr. Nalaka Godahewa, Keheliya Rambukwella, Susil Premajayantha, D.V. Chanaka, Vidura Wickramanayaka and Dr. Sarath Weerasekera and MPs Anura Priyadharshana Yapa, Vijitha Herath, Dilan Perera, Dr. Harsha de Silva, M.A. Sumanthiran, Chaminda Wijesiri, Hesha Withanage, Isuru Dodangoda, Anura Pasqual, Sahan Pradeep Withana and Ranjith Bandara.

The chairperson of the committee will be nominated at its first meeting. 

The Public Finance Committee in the last Parliament was chaired by TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran in keeping with Standing Orders which made it mandatory for an Opposition lawmaker to head the committee.

However, the Government last month passed a motion to enable its members to decide who chairs the committee. Thirteen of the 18 members on the new committee are Government members and it does not have even a single female MP on board.