The Constitutional Council has approved the appointment of Dr. Hemamal Jayawardene as a commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, after a deadlocked vote was broken by the Speaker, the Daily Mirror reported.
Citing informed sources, the paper said the Council divided evenly between two candidates, with Dr. Jayawardene and Dr. Jehan Perera receiving four votes each.
How the Council split
Voting for Dr. Jehan Perera:
- Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa
- Ajith P. Perera
- S. Sritharan
- civil member Austin Fernando
Voting for Dr. Hemamal Jayawardene:
- Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya
- Leader of the House Bimal Ratnayake
- MP Aboobucker Athambawa
- civil member Wasantha Seneviratne
With the vote tied at four apiece, Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne cast his vote in favour of Dr. Jayawardene, clearing his appointment to the commission.
Why it matters
The Constitutional Council vets appointments to Sri Lanka’s independent commissions, and its approval is the final step before a nomination to the Human Rights Commission takes effect. A tie broken by the Speaker is an unusually visible split: the division fell along government and opposition lines, with the two civil-society members on the Council landing on opposite sides.
The casting vote also puts the Speaker at the centre of a contested appointment on the same day the opposition handed in a no-confidence motion against him carrying 44 signatures.
Not reported
The Daily Mirror’s account rests on unnamed sources and does not give Dr. Jayawardene’s background or professional qualifications, the vacancy he fills, or the length of his term. No member of the Council is quoted explaining their vote, and neither candidate has commented. It is not reported whether Dr. Jehan Perera, a well-known civil-society figure, had been formally nominated by a particular group or whether the seat was contested at an earlier stage.
