Bond report to Parliament in a week, debate to follow

• Opposition asserts Parliament is supreme and demands report be tabled as soon as possible
• Much to the displeasure of the Opposition, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya informed Parliament yesterday that the bond report would only be tabled in the House after a week. 

Addressing the House at the commencement of yesterday’s special parliamentary session, the Speaker announced that the Presidential Secretariat had informed him that the bond commission report and 34 reports of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry to Investigate and Inquire into Serious Acts of Fraud, Corruption and Abuse of Power, State Resources and Privileges (PRECIFAC) would be made available to Parliament after one more week.

“The President informed me through the Presidential Secretariat that a period of one week would be needed to resolve the legal provisions recommended by the bond report. Secretary to the President, Austin Fernando, in his letter states that the President had sought the advice of the Attorney General, who in turn had counselled that copies of the report are handed over to the individuals and institutes named in the report,” he said, adding that copies of the report had been sent to the Attorney General, Central Bank and the Bribery Commission. 

Chief Opposition Whip and Leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Anura Kumara Dissanayake pointed out that it had been agreed during the party leaders meeting the previous day that the first order of business of Parliament would be the tabling of the bond report. 

“We have been demanding that the bond commission report be tabled. At the last party leaders meeting we came to an agreement that the Speaker would get the report tabled and thereafter we would hold a party leaders’ meeting to decide the debate. 

A summary of the report had been made by the President in his address to the country. In his summary the President said that there were losses of Rs. 11,000 million to the country, of which Rs. 8,500 million was from the EPF and ETF funds. In addition, public funds were used for the upkeep and conduct of the Presidential Commission. These details should not be hidden or only limited to a few. Parliament should be informed of these. We have asked for these reports under the provisions of the Right to Information Act,” MP Dissanayake said. 

Thereafter, the leader of the Joint Opposition in Parliament, Dinesh Gunawardena, pointed out that the report should have been given to Parliament before the Judiciary. 

“This report pertains to the country’s largest financial scam. The Parliament is the foremost body regarding the country’s finances. It was promised at the party leaders’ meeting yesterday that the first item today in Parliament would be the tabling of the report. Now the officials cannot override the promise given by the Speaker and ask for more time. Former speakers Anura Bandaranaike and Chamal Rajapaksa have established that Parliament is above other institutions, including the Judiciary. Now it is up to you as the Speaker to use your powers. You have the powers to summon any public official and ask for any public document. The entire country is waiting to see the report. You can summon the Secretary to the President and ask him to come with the report,” MP Gunawardena stated. 

Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan, joining in the discussions, asserted that it was public money that had been lost and therefore the masses must be kept aware of the developments regarding the scandal. 

“The reports should be tabled at its earliest possible time. This is a matter pertaining to public funds and Parliament has responsibility over public finances. This should be debated. We should investigate frauds and find the truth. There was a time we did not know what happened to similar commission reports. I thank the President and Prime Minister for this report,”

Thereafter Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that one of the main reasons he had convened Parliament early had been to make a statement to the House.

“MP Dinesh Gunawardena called and asked me to convene Parliament. It is not easy to call MPs for an urgent sitting as they are campaigning in their villages for the forthcoming elections. When I convene Parliament, as per the provisions of Standing Order No. 14, I have to lay down the reasons for convening. Then I said I would convene Parliament to make a statement too and to convene Parliament on 10 January. It is up to the President to decide whether he would make the reports public. Before presenting the report to the House, it should be presented to the Cabinet. Special sittings are convened for a special purpose. I need to make this statement. I will make it and thereafter you can debate or state your opinion. I did not know whether the report would be made available or not. I was asked to convene Parliament, I convened it,” he said.

Soon after the Prime Minister’s statement, the Speaker said that he would call on the Attorney General and discuss what steps could be taken to obtain the report in an expeditious manner.