Aluthgamage is president’s nominee to the Constitutional Council
COLOMBO – President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has chosen Mahindananda Aluthgamage as his nominee to the Constitutional Council (CC), the Presidential Secretariat announced Wednesday (26).
Aluthgamage, the current Agriculture Minister, is the fourth person to be appointed to the ten-member CC which plays a crucial role in governance.
The other three are Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa, all appointed by virtue of office.
The Speaker is the Chair of the Council.
Of the remaining six, five are appointed by the President based on names the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition can agree on and one person from Parliament, usually from a minority party.
Two places are usually reserved for members of civil society.
The CC monitors the working of the independent commission, approves key appointments and has to prevent the politicization of the public service.
Aluthgamage has recently attracted controversy, first calling returning migrant workers from Kuwait “bombs” because some were infected with COVID-19, and also creating a stir by stating that the 2011 World Cup final was “fixed.”
He was sports minister at the time the game was played in India, where the host country beat Sri Lanka to lift the cup.
Police began investigating the allegation but the probe was dropped mid-way.
-economynext.com