By Maheesha Mudugamuwa Public Enterprise and Kandy City Development Minister Lakshman Kiriella requested President Maithripala Sirisena to nominate new boards of directors for People’s Bank and the Bank of Ceylon, after the President wanted the current Boards of Directors removed. Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Kiriella denied reports claiming that President Maithripala Sirisena dissolved the Boards of Directors of the Bank of Ceylon, People’s Bank, and the Board of Investment (BOI). Instead, the Minister stated that the President sent a written request containing instructions to restructure the Boards of Directors of BOC and People’s Bank. “Therefore, we have not dissolved the Boards of Directors of these two banks as yet,” he added. Minister Kiriella stressed that the President had no authority to dissolve the Boards of Directors of these key institutions, and that the sole authority was with subject Ministers. The two major banks function under Public Enterprise Minister Kiriella, and the BOI serves under Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama. Minister Kiriella told The Sunday Morning that the decision to dissolve a board of directors of a state-run bank couldn’t be taken overnight. “You can’t just dissolve a board of directors of a bank. If so, the bank will collapse. You have to select some people, appoint them, and then move to dissolve,” the Minister stressed. However, when The Sunday Morning asked the reason for President Sirisena’s decision to appoint new members to the Boards, Minister Kiriella stressed that the two Boards were appointed three years ago and that their terms have now ended. Usually, a board of directors is appointed for a period of two or three years, after which they should resign on the expiration of that period, he added. “Before we dissolve the Boards of Directors, we have to find new people. I have already requested the President to nominate suitable candidates for the posts,” Kiriella noted. The Director of President’s Media Dharmasri Ekanayake confirmed to The Sunday Morning that President Sirisena ordered Minister Kiriella to dissolve the Boards of Directors of the two banks, and that in return the Minister requested the President to nominate names, but that the President had not decided on his pick as yet. Ekanayake noted that the new appointments would only come into effect after they were approved by the President.