A Sri Lankan parliamentary delegation led by Committee on Public Enterprises Chairman and NPP MP Nishantha Samaraweera participated in the UK–Sri Lanka Parliamentary Programme at Westminster from June 16 to 18, in a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association-organised exchange focused on legislative oversight.
The programme was jointly organised by the CPA UK Branch and the Parliament of Sri Lanka. The delegation also included MPs Gayantha Karunathilleka, S.M. Marikkar, Jagath Gunawardana, Thushari Jayasingha, Kanthasamy Prabu, Danushka Ranganath and Ruwan Wijeweera, alongside Secretary-General Kushani Rohanadeera and Serjeant-at-Arms Kushan Sampath Jayarathna, Newswire reported on Saturday.
Sessions across the three days covered parliamentary systems, committee structures, legislative scrutiny, public accountability mechanisms, financial oversight, parliamentary modernisation and public engagement. Delegates observed Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons, met members of both chambers, and held meetings with senior parliamentary officials and policy experts.
The MPs also met the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Sri Lanka, and CPA Secretary-General Stephen Twigg, Newswire said.
The visit comes as Sri Lanka’s parliamentary oversight architecture is under heavy load. The COPE — chaired by Mr. Samaraweera — has been central to the recent reform push, and the Committee on Public Finance has been driving the parliamentary inquiry into the US$2.5 million Treasury cyber theft, with the Auditor General opening a separate audit this weekend. The CPA Westminster format has historically emphasised oversight committees, parliamentary research services and select-committee scrutiny — areas Colombo is now expanding.
Source: Sri Lankan parliamentary delegation visits UK Parliament — Newswire, June 20.
