Eran quits CoPE in disgust over Rohitha’s appointment as Chair

• Says appointment of ruling party MP as CoPE Chair fails to meet its objectives
• Opines that 45 years since its establishment CoPE has now come to be a redundant committee
• Emphasises necessity of revisiting CoPE’s scope and advocating for expansion of standing orders
• Accuses Govt. of attempting cover up and defend mismanagement and corruption through such appointments

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Eran Wickramaratne resigned from the Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (CoPE) yesterday.

Addressing a press conference in Colombo following the resignation Wickramaratne cited the appointment of ruling party member, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Rohitha Abeygunawardena as the reason for his resignation.Wickramaratne recalled that the 2015-2019 Good Governance Government followed a best practice of appointing the Chairman for the two key Committees CoPE and CoPA from the Opposition.

“CoPE has been established to ensure the observance of financial discipline in Public Corporations and other semi-Governmental bodies in which the Government has a financial stake. By appointing a ruling party member as its Chairman, the committee fails to meet its objectives of keeping a check on the executive arm of the Government,” he said. 

“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. 45 years since its establishment, CoPE has come to be a redundant committee,” the MP added. 

Addressing the issue of limitation in standing orders affecting functions of the committees. “Mismanagement and corruption have largely gone unchecked due to limitations in standing orders. Standing orders should be widened, where irregularities and fraud when in light, should reach the Attorney General directly and CIABOC proceed to act,” he said. 

He accused the Government of blocking the process by limiting standing orders and said therefore the effectiveness of CoPE is now in question. 

The MP was also of the view that appointees to CoPE as part of its 31-member team or Chairperson, must not be associated with allegations or convictions and a committee that has an overview of checks and balances must have clearly outlined qualifications and disqualifications for its members. 

Wickramaratne emphasised the necessity of revisiting the scope of the CoPE and advocating for the expansion of standing orders to empower the committee to carry out more impactful work. He also stressed the importance of embracing good governance practices as the committee moves forward.

“It is evident that the present Government that lacks legitimacy compounds the fact by appearing to cover up and defend mismanagement and corruption by the more recent appointments,” he noted.