COLOMBO (News 1st) – For the first time in Sri Lanka, Members of the Parliament have revealed their educational and professional qualifications for the perusal of the public.
From the 225 Parliamentarians, 208 have declared either their educational or professional qualifications, or both to the Parliament Secretariat.After parliamentary officials refused to divulge the information initially, the Right To Information Commission ruled that the information must be disclosed.
Until then, although the MPs had been asked to submit the information, none had done. The details can be accessed by the public on the Parliamentary website, www.parliament.lk, under the directory of members.
Earlier, Parliament's stance in terms of Articles 90 and 91 of the Constitution, was that MPs’ educational qualifications had not been ‘recognised’ as preconditions for entering Parliament and that therefore there was no requirement to reveal the qualifications.According to the Parliament website, the 17 Parliamentarians who failed to submit both educational and professional qualifications to the Parliament Secretariat are: Chamara Sampath Dasanayake, Dhammika Perera, Gevindu Cumaratunga, Jagath Samarawickrama, Johnston Fernando, Kulasingam Dhileeban, Kumara Welgama, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Piyal Nishantha De Silva, Ven Athuraliye Rathana Thero, Rohitha Abeygunawardhana, S.