Concerns have been raised over the future of two financial committees in Parliament, as speculations were being made that the Government was going to alter the composition of the two committees as well as close the proceedings to the media. As learnt by The Sunday Morning, the closing of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) and Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) proceedings to the media has been discussed at the parliament business meeting held last week and the former committee chairmen and the Opposition warned that if such an alteration was made, the sole purpose of these two committees would not be served. Nevertheless, assurance was given by Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena that the two committees would continue in the way they were functioning during the past few decades. He told The Sunday Morning that no decision had been taken by the Government regarding the two committees. When asked whether the composition of the two committees would be changed, the Speaker noted that there were no such plans as of yet. Meanwhile, Opposition political parties claimed that the Government was planning to keep the chairmanships of the two committees with them rather than giving them to the Opposition. During the last Government, the Opposition was given the post of Chairman of COPE; Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) MP Sunil Handunnetti. Under his chairmanship, the activities of the previous COPE were talked about more than ever and many believe that Handunnetti did considerable justice to the post. However, Handunnetti failed to get elected to Parliament this time. State Minister of Cooperatives, Sales Promotion, and Consumer Protection Lasantha Alagiyawanna was the Chairman of COPA in the last Parliament. COPE is the other financial committee in Parliament which consists of 12 members nominated by the Committee of Selection. The duty of this committee is to examine the accounts of the public corporations and of any business undertaking vested in the Government. These two committees have the power to summon before them and question any person; call for and examine any paper, book, record, or other documents; and access to stores and property. While COPA exercises oversight in the financial performance of government institutions, COPE was established on 26 June 1979 to ensure the observance of financial discipline in public corporations and other semi-governmental bodies in which the Government has a financial stake. COPE which consists of 31 members, reflecting the party composition in the House, is established under Standing Order 126 at the beginning of each parliamentary session and the chairman is elected by the members of the committee at its first session. Its quorum is four. The duty of the committee is to report to Parliament on accounts examined, budgets and estimates, financial procedures, performance and management of corporations, and other government business undertakings. The accounts of these organisations are audited by the Auditor General and form the basis of the investigations of the committee. It has the power to summon the relevant officials and such other people as it thinks fit to obtain evidence and call for documents. The committee reports to the Parliament and the recommendations contained in their reports are deemed to be directives to the respective corporations or statutory boards for due compliance. Since its inception, the following members have held the post of chairman of COPE: George Abeygunasekera, M.S. Amarasiri, J.A.E. Amaratunga, Wimal Wickramasinghe, Rohan Abeygunasekera, D.P. Wickremasinghe, Prof. W.A. Wiswa Warnapala, Reggie Ranatunga, Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, Rohitha Bogollagama, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, W.D.J. Senewiratne, and D.E.W. Gunasekera. COPA is the other financial committee in the Parliament. It consists of 12 members nominated by the Committee of Selection. The duty of this committee is to examine the accounts showing the appropriation of the sums granted by Parliament to meet public expenditure. The task of COPA is to probe the managerial efficiency and financial discipline of the Government, its ministries, departments, provincial councils, and local authorities. The committee is established at the beginning of each parliamentary session under Standing Order 125 and consists of 31 members. It reflects the party composition in Parliament and its quorum is four. The duty of COPA is to examine the sums voted by Parliament along with the report of the Auditor General, which is in six volumes. In the course of its deliberations, the committee obtains evidence from the secretaries to the respective ministries, who are the chief accounting officers, heads of departments, and other responsible officers. The committee also regularly summons the Directors General of Public Finance, state accounts, and National Budget or their nominated representatives. It is the duty of the chief accounting officers to personally appear before the committee in order to explain and justify the financial activities of the departments under the purview of their ministries. The recommendations of the committee may contain directives to government departments and ministries and such directives are deemed to be those of the Parliament. Copies of committee reports are distributed among the respective officers of the ministries, departments, provincial councils, and local authorities. Since Independence, the following members have held the post of chairman of COPA: K. Kanagaratnam, Albert F. Peries, Rosslyn Koch, R.S.V. Poulier CBE, V.A. Kandiah, Bernard Soysa, S. Thondaman, P.S. Soosaithasan, W.P.B. Dissanayake, G.V.S. de Silva, Chandra Kumara Wijeya Gunawardena, E.P. Paul Perera PC, M.A. Abdul Majeed, Dr. P.B.G. Kalugalla, Prof. W.A. Wiswa Warnapala, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Anura Priyadharshana Yapa, Rauff Hakeem, Dr. Sarath Amunugama. As learnt by The Sunday Morning, the Eighth Parliament issued 11 COPE reports. Former COPE Chairman Sunil Handunnetti told The Sunday Morning that COPE has all the powers to take action against the corrupt state institutions but so far, such actions have not been taken by the Parliament. According to the standing orders, within eight weeks after COPE observations were issued, the state institutions must inform Parliament about the actions that they have taken, but none of these things were happening all these years. “These reports are legally binding, as they are made as per the observations made by the Auditor General. Yet, the Parliament is not taking any action,” he stressed. Government progress in implementing recommendations made by COPE remains slow, leading to drawbacks to ensure transparency and accountability in financial administration over the past decades, according to the former COPE chairmen. Urging the President and the Prime Minister to take initiative, the former COPE chairmen stressed that COPE reports would only be a tool to enhance accountability and tackle corruption if the Government takes their recommendations seriously.