The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) was formed in the firm belief that there is an urgent need to strengthen institution and capacity-building for good governance and conflict transformation in Sri Lanka and that non-partisan civil society groups have an important and constructive contribution to make to this process. The primary role envisaged for the Centre in the field of public policy is a pro-active and interventionary one, aimed at the dissemination and advocacy of policy alternatives for non-violent conflict resolution and democratic governance. Accordingly, the work of the Centre involves a major research component through which the policy alternatives advocated are identified and developed.

The objectives of the Centre are: 

1. To contribute to public accountability in governance through the strengthening of the awareness in society of all aspects of public policy and policy implementation.
2. To make inputs into the public policy-making and implementation process in the constitutional, legislative and administrative spheres to ensure responsible and good governance.
3. To propose to the government and parliament and all other policy-making bodies and institutions, constructive policy alternatives aimed at strengthening and safeguarding democracy, pluralism, the Rule of Law, human rights and social justice.
4. To focus attention on the social and political consequences of development.
5. To contribute towards the conflict resolution process in Sri Lanka and the South Asian region, so as to strengthen institution and capacity-building for democratic governance in multi-ethnic and pluralist societies.

In the pursuit of the above objectives, CPA carries out the following activities:

1. Programmes of research and study of public policy.
2. Dissemination of research and study through seminars, conferences, the publication and exchange of ideas, including full use of the print and electronic media.
3. Advocacy of constructive policy alternatives, lobbying of decision-makers and the shaping of public opinion.
4. Monitoring of the executive, legislature, judiciary, media and other public institutions.
5. Provision of consultancy services to political parties and other organisations involved in the field of public policy and engaging them in dialogue on the issues identified above.
6. Forging linkages with local and foreign institutions with similar aims and objectives.

Shelton Wanasinghe (Chairman of the Board)
Shelton Wanasinghe joined the Sri Lanka public service in 1946 and served for a period of 24 years. He was the founder and Director of the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration. He later served on the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) from May 1971 to June 1986. After retiring from the UN he was appointed as the Chairman of the Presidential Administrative Reforms Committee (1986-1987) and Chairman of the Salaries and Cadres Committee (1987-1989) amongsts others. At present, he holds several honorary positions in various institutions and he is also a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies. His major areas of interest are reforms regarding Taxation, Rural Development, Education, Health and Human Resources Development.

Anushya Coomaraswamy
Anushya Coomaraswamy is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants of the UK and the Society of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka. She has the advantage of having worked for both the public and private sectors of the Country.

Ms. Coomaraswamy worked for more than 20 years in the Private Sector, in industry, commerce and services, in senior management positions. From 1994 till 2002, she was the Group Finance Director of John Keells Holdings Limited, one of the leading conglomerates in the Country and one of the largest capitalised companies on the Colombo Stock Market. Miss Coomaraswamy was one of a three-member representation from John Keells Holdings, on an international consortium that negotiated a US$240 million project for the development of one quay of the Colombo Port, with the Government of Sri Lanka and Multilateral and Bilateral Lending Institutions, with specific responsibility for the Project's Financial Model.

Having left John Keells Holdings in 2002, Miss Coomaraswamy joined the Ministry of Finance in January 2003 as an Advisor working directly with the Deputy Secretary to the Treasury, with particular involvement in Fiscal Policy and Public Debt and as Alternate to the Deputy Secretary to the Treasury on the Board of Directors of the Bank of Ceylon. She was also the first Chairperson of the Public Utilities Commission for Sri Lanka and a member of the Public Enterprise Reform Commission.

Miss Coomaraswamy is a member of the Taxation and Auditing Standards Sub Committees of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce; and of the Urgent Issues Task Force and the Continuing Professional Education Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka.

Rohan Edrisinha
Rohan Edrisinha, LL.B.(Hons.) Colombo, LL.M (University of California, Berkeley) Director,and Head, Legal Unit, Centre for Policy Alternatives has taught at the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo since 1986. His area of specialization is Constitutional Law.

He was elected as a member of the Executive Committee of the International Association of Constitutional Law (IACL) and a Vice President of the World Association of Mixed Jurisdiction Jurists in 2007.

He taught at the Faculty of Law, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa in 1995 and was a Visiting Fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard University, 2004/5. He attended the last 3 rounds of peace negotiations between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE as an advisor to the Forum of Federations and the chief Government negotiator, the Minister of Constitutional Affairs, Prof, G.L.Peiris. In recent years his research has focused on federal options for bridging the gap between the negotiating parties.

He was a founder Co-Director of the Centre for Policy Research and Analysis, University of Colombo from 1992-1995 and a founder of the Council for Liberal Democracy, and its Secretary General, from 1989 to 1993. He was also Deputy Secretary General of the Liberal Party from its inception in 1987 until his resignation from the party in 1993. In 1995 he was a member of two committees appointed by the Government to propose media law reforms.

Cyrene Siriwardhana
Cyrene Siriwardhana is a lawyer specialising in appellate law, public law and human rights practising in the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka.  She graduated in law from Oxford University, and qualified as a barrister of the Inner Temple and thereafter as an Attorney-at-Law in Sri Lanka.

She is a member of the National Committee on Women.  She was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Sarvodaya Legal Services Movement, and a member of the Law Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Women's Affairs. She has also worked in the British civil service, as a legal adviser in the Ministry of Justice (then Lord Chancellor's Department) in London, working primarily in the field of human rights co-ordination.

She has published on a number topics including the right to equality, freedom of expression and land rights.

Bradman Weerakoon
In a Public service career of 40 years (1954 -2004) Mr Weerakoon served as Secretary to seven Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka and as a Senior Advisor to three Executive Presidents.

He has also been Permanent Secretary in two Ministries – (Plantation Industries and Highways) and was selected by the President as the first Commissioner-General of Essential Services on the outbreak of the ‘riots’ in July 1983. He was recalled to serve from retirement, as Secretary to Prime Minister - Ranil Wickremesinghe (2002-2004) and during the period of the ceasefire with the LTTE also co-ordinated the Triple R programme – (Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconciliation in conflict affected areas as the Commissioner General of Essential Services.
 
In 1984 Mr Weerakoon was selected, after world - wide executive search, as the C E O  (Secretary-General) of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) London, for a period of 5 years.  He has also been a Member of the International Advisory Group of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for the years 1994 to 1999.
 
Mr Weerakoon has worked as a Consultant to the United Nations system, holding assignments with the UNDP, UNHCR, UNFPA, ILO and UNICEF.
 
Mr Weerakoon writes and speaks on issues of conflict resolution, human rights and governance, population and  public administration. His published writings in addition to articles in the media include two books, ‘Premadasa of Sri Lanka’ 1992 (Vikas, India) a political biography of President R Premadasa, and ‘Rendering unto Caesar’ (Sterling Publishers, India) 2004, ten biographical essays on Sri Lanka’s national leaders as they faced the political and security challenges which confronted them.
 
In November 2005 Mr Weerakoon was the recipient of the national honour of Desamanya. 

Faiz Mohideen
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Gowrie Ponniah
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Tissa Jayatilaka
Tissa Jayatilaka is currently the Director of the United States - Sri Lanka Fulbright  Commission and Visiting Lecturer in English at The University of Sri Jayewardenepura in Sri Lanka.He has been a Visiting Lecturer in English at the Universities of Peradeniya, Kelaniya( beginning in 1977); and in American Studies at the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies of the University of Colombo beginning in 2007. He has also served as Visiting International Scholar at Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa, U.S.A.(2001) and has lectured at several other Colleges and Universities in the States.
 
In a varied public service career to-date, Jayatilaka has been a regular newspaper columnist on themes of political and cultural interest, editor and co-editor of books and journals devoted to literature and international relations (International Relations in a Globalising World, the Journal of the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies) and participant in  other cultural pursuits. He has served as Chairman of the Jury for Presidential Awards for Sri Lankan Sinhala Films in 1999; as a Member of the Panel of Judges of the Annual National Sinhala Drama Festival organised by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs from 1985 to 1990; Member of The Panel (for the evaluation) of English  Writing from 1985 to 1990; as Deputy Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Community Development and Socio-Cultural Integration of the Mayor of Colombo in 1997; and from 2006 to 2009 as the Chairman of the Gratiaen Trust of Sri Lanka.
 
Over the years, Jayatilaka has been the beneficiary of knowledge and experience gathered from his participation in several notable international seminars. They include the seminar on the theme of Visions and Revisions of the United States at The Annual Salzburg Seminar, Salzburg, Austria(1994); the seminar on the theme Germany, Europe and the World held at The International Academy of Leadership in Gummersbach, Germany, at the invitation of the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung 1996); the seminar on the theme of International Understanding held at Budapest, Hungary, at the invitation of the U.S - Hungarian Education Foundation(1996); the Colloquium on Democracy in Pluralistic Societies jointly organised by The Commonwealth Secretariat and L'Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie and held in Yaounde, Cameroon at the invitation of The Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Secretariat(2000) and the seminar on the theme The Contemporary Writer In English at Trinity College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK, at the invitation of The British Council(1987).

Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu
Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu  received his Ph.D and first degree from the London School of Economics (LSE), University of London in 1986 and 1979 respectively.

Dr. Saravanamuttu is a Co-Convenor of the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) and a Member of the Board of the Sri Lanka Chapter of Transparency International as well as a Member of the Advisory Board of the Berghof Foundation for Peace Support, Berlin, Germany,  the UNDP Regional Centre on Governance, Bangkok, Thailand  and the Sri Lanka Advisory Group of the Asia Pacific Leadership Forum on HIV/AIDs and Development. He has been quoted widely in the domestic and international media on the political situation in Sri Lanka, has presented papers and been a frequent participant at a number of international conferences on governance and security issues.  

In 2002, Dr. Saravanamuttu delivered the Gandhi Memorial Oration on the invitation of the India – Sri Lanka Society. A year later in 2003 he made the civil society presentation at the June 2003 Tokyo Donor Conference on Sri Lanka, at the invitation of the Government of Japan.  From September –November 2004, Dr Saravanamuttu was in the USA on an Eisenhower Fellowship.