Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Professor G. L. Peiris and the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea Park Byeong-Seng held discussions recently at the Speaker’s Office, National Assembly in Seoul.

Speaker Byeong-Seng showed lively interest in the Parliamentary system under Sri Lanka’s Constitution, especially such features as the mingling of the Executive Presidential system with the framework of Cabinet Government.

Minister Prof. Peiris briefed the Korean Speaker about the current electoral system in Sri Lanka, and the reforms now under discussion by a Parliamentary Committee, the Foreign Ministry said.

The Foreign Minister and the Speaker discussed in some detail the importance of the work of Select Committees, Consultative Committees and the Standing Committees outside the floor of Parliament, and the relationship of these Committees to the Party System.

The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea accepted with pleasure the invitation extended to him by Foreign Minister Peiris to visit the Parliament of Sri Lanka.

Dates were fixed in consultation with Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena. The Speaker of the ROK National Assembly will arrive in Sri Lanka on 18 January for a three-day visit.

This visit will be a significant event in strengthening cooperation between the Parliaments of the two countries, the statement said.