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‘Govt. not conceding COPE, COPA top seats in fear of corruption being exposed’

28 Sep 2022

  • SJB slams SLPP’s hold on watchdog committee chairmanships
  • SLPP says Standing Orders must be amended to give Opposition the posts, but not in ad hoc manner
BY Mirudhula Thambiah   In a backdrop where the main Parliamentary Opposition, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), is alleging that its members have been denied top posts in the key Parliamentary watchdog committees due to fears that corrupt deals by the Government would be exposed, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Government claimed that in order for the Opposition to be given the said positions, the Parliament Standing Orders (SOs) need to be amended in prior. SJB MP Kabir Hashim, speaking to The Morning yesterday (27), claimed that the Government should be queried over the reason behind its objection to appointing members of the Opposition to Chair the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) and the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE).  “I saw SLPP General Secretary MP and Attorney Sagara Kariyawasam saying that they are not willing to concede the two said positions. We believe that the Government is worried that all its corrupt deals will be exposed,” he claimed. However, speaking to The Morning yesterday, Kariyawasam clarified that it is a matter of amending the Parliamentary SOs to provide for clear provisions that state that the Opposition should get the chairperson posts of the COPA and COPE. If not, he said, the Opposition should nominate members to the committees and thereafter vote for chairpersons from among the committee memberships according to the due procedure.   “If not, appoint the members of the said committees and let the committee members nominate the chairpersons. I told them not to change Parliamentary traditions and conventions. Individuals seeking to act in an extremely ad hoc manner is not fair. I never rejected (their chairmanship nominations); don’t try to change things according to the whims and fancies of individuals. If you want change, do it properly.  “When it comes to the COPE and COPA, the Standing Orders are very clear – once the committees are appointed, their members should get together and appoint chairpersons.” When Kariyawasam was asked whether his party has any nominations for these posts, he replied that the committees should decide this. Meanwhile, Hashim also noted: “The Opposition had said that it is not about me, and not that I should be appointed, but that Opposition members must chair the COPE and the COPA. This has been insisted on. “Now, it is over one and a half months, and there have been two or three party leaders’ meetings. Usually, they meet with the Speaker of Parliament. So far, the Government has said that it needs more time to make a decision.” He added that these positions must go to the Opposition for proper transparency and accountability to be ensured, stating that in 2015, when the United National Front-led Government came into power, these positions were given to the Opposition, which is how then-Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) MP Sunil Handunnetti became Chairman of the COPE.  “I am surprised as to why this Government can’t do it. We are insisting that both these positions must go to the Opposition. It doesn’t matter who the chairs are, it can be me or somebody else, but it must be Opposition members,” he noted.  Meanwhile, SJB MP Eran Wickramaratne, also speaking to The Morning yesterday, said: “All we have heard from Kariyawasam is that he had said that the Government had never promised to appoint anybody from the Opposition, but we are not talking about promises here. My name was nominated by the SJB and it stands. In this Parliament, the COPE and the COPA have still not been summoned. That is the bigger issue.” He also noted that President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena had mentioned that this should be in the hands of the Opposition, but that Kariyawasam has basically said that no such promises were made.  He further said that the process with regard to the COPE and COPA states that the committees decide on who should be the chairpersons, unlike in the case of the Committee on Public Finance (COPF).  “In the COPF, the Standing Orders state that it is only a member of the Opposition that should chair it. That is how SJB MP Dr. Harsha de Silva came to chair it, because that’s in the Standing Orders,” he added. In the COPE and COPA, it is the members of the committees that decide the chairpersons, he reiterated, noting that these committees have a majority of Government MPs, and since the majority is the Government, they can generally use their majority and appoint whoever they want.  “But the real issue is, we are more in the Westminster Parliamentary tradition. This means that the checks and balances are on the Executive. The US system has a complete separation of powers. There is the Executive President. The President appoints Cabinet and it is outside the Legislature, and this is the complete separation from the Executive. The Legislature consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate.” Wickramaratne noted that in Sri Lanka, if Parliament is to actually serve as a check and balance on the Executive, these Committees should not comprise Cabinet Ministers, as they are part of the Executive.  “This is principle number one. The second principle is that in order for that principle to really work, it is necessary that the chairpersons of those committees be from the Opposition.” Earlier, the SJB nominated MP Wickramaratne to Chair the COPE and MP Hashim as the COPA Chairperson.  However, earlier, MP Prof. Charitha Herath served as COPE Chairperson, while MP Prof. Tissa Vitharana served as COPA Chairperson.   


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