The Committee of Selection has decided to present a motion in Parliament to increase the number of members of the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) and Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE).
The Selection Committee headed by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya met at the Parliament Complex last Friday to decide on the appointment of the Parliamentary Committees. The Committees stood dissolved following the prorogation of Parliament by President Maithripala Sirisena on October 27.
A member of the Selection Committee said the Chairmen of COPA and COPE are unlikely to be changed.
He said the proposal to increase the number of members in COPE, COPA and other committees such as the Public Finance Committee and Public Petitions Committee etc is to give a fair representation to all parties and groups in the current Parliament.
According to the new Standing Orders of Parliament, the COPE and COPA comprise of 16 members each, while the Public Petitions Committee and Public Finance Committee have 15 and 11 members respectively.
Prior to the prorogation, JVP MP Sunil Handunnetti headed the COPE and UPFA MP Lasantha Alagiyawanna headed the COPA.
He said the members of those Committees would be slightly changed as all the UPFA MPs are now in the Opposition.
The nominations for Parliamentary committees would be called by the Speaker from each party after the motion to increase the number of members gets the nod of the House.