Constitutional Council to appoint Chief Justice

Colombo (News1st): The Constitutional Council will convene at the Parliamentary Complex at 12 PM today (October 12) to appoint a new Chief Justice. The post will be made vacant as Chief Justice Priyasath Dep will retire from his service today. According to seniority at the Supreme Court, the next in line would be Justice Eva Wanasundara. Justices Buwaneka Aluvihare & Sisira De Abrew, as well as present Attorney General Jayantha Jayasuriya, are also being looked at for the post of Chief Justice. Yesterday (October 11), Parliament approved the appointments of civil society members, Dr. Jayantha Dhanapala, Ahmad Yusuf and Naganathan Sellvakumaran for the Constitutional Council. Minister Thalatha Atukorale was appointed as the representative of the Prime Minister while Chamal Rajapaksa was appointed to the Council as the representative of Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan. JVP MP Bimal Rathnayake was appointed to represent the minority parties in Parliament. President Maithripala Sirisena appointed Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe as his representative to the Constitutional Council.