• SJB Gen. Secy Madduma Bandara says announcement likely today
• No word yet from Mayantha Dissanayake 

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) General Secretary Ranjith Maddumabandara yesterday (26) stated that their party Parliamentarian Mayantha Dissanayake who is the current Chairman of the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) would resign today (27) from his post, even though there had not been any official statement by the latter over the weekend stating he would tender his resignation.

When queried by The Daily Morning yesterday if Dissanayake had officially informed his party hierarchy on the resignation, Madduma Bandara said, “ Yes. He said he will resign. Now it is the weekend so he should resign tomorrow (27)."

He also stated that once Dissanayake resigns from his post, SJB would nominate former COPF Chairman Dr. Harsha de Silva’s name to the said post.

Meanwhile, addressing a media briefing SJB Parliamentarian and Former COPF Chairman, Dr. Harsha de Silva said, “We were carrying out the duties. It was immediately disrupted. With the agreement of all our party Parliamentarians, my name was nominated. But this had been complicated by some papers today saying that some MPs did not agree to that. Total lies. With the agreement of all the MPs the Chief Opposition Whip nominated this name at the selections committee.

Dissanayake was not nominated by the opposition but the ruling party MPs. The intention of the standing orders is to nominate a member from the opposition. They did that and they chased us. We were chased at the will of the Government. I don’t have a problem. Some think I am greedy for positions. I don’t earn even a cent from this post or an office. I carry out duties from morning till night not for any personal gains. There are no party differences in the committee. Recommendations of the IMF should be passed at the COPF. Any finance related decisions should be taken analytically; only then can we go forward,”

When queried by the media if de Silva is ready to take up the chairmanship of COPF, he said,  “There was a news alert that Dissanayake would resign. If that happens and if we were asked to take up the chair of the COPF, we are 100% ready to take it up. Not only for that, we are ready to dedicate ourselves 100% to take this forward.”

Last week in a statement soon after the new chair Dissanayake was appointed to COPF, Dr. de Silva stated in a statement noting: “The tax money of the people of a bankrupt country should be used in such a way that the country gets maximum benefits. What I emphasised in the COPF was that a casino regulatory authority should be established. I emphasised that when the Board of Investment (BOI) provides tax concessions for large-scale projects, the benefits to the country should be calculated and presented analytically. Until that was done, the COPF did not approve the proposals,”

The COPF met for the first time on 23 February under the patronage of newly appointed Chairman Dissanayake. Dissanayake was nominated by the ruling party Parliamentarians.