CoPF and COPE tussle for Parliament meeting rooms

Thursday, 25 June 2026 06:57 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A dispute over the allocation of a Parliament committee room has disrupted the work of the Committee on Public Finance (CoPF), its Chairman MP Dr. Harsha de Silva told Parliament yesterday.

Raising the issue in the House, Dr. de Silva said the activities of the CoPF had effectively come to a standstill after the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) sought exclusive use of the committee room from Tuesday to Friday, from morning until evening.

He said the arrangement had left little room for the CoPF to conduct its proceedings and fulfil its oversight responsibilities.

“Committees do not own rooms in Parliament,” Dr. de Silva said, urging a resolution to the matter.

The comments point to growing tensions over parliamentary resources at a time when both oversight committees are engaged in reviewing key public finance and governance issues.

No immediate response from the COPE was made in Parliament regarding the matter.