• No change to Chair, possible unless resignation by own volition or majority PSC members request  

In view of the potential resignation of all Opposition Parliamentarians from the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) that was appointed to look into the causes of economic bankruptcy in the country, Speaker of the Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana is to consider appointing new members or appointing a PSC anew, The Daily Morning learns.

The PSC, of which the majority members are those representing the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, was appointed by Abeywardana to look into the causes of economic bankruptcy in the country and make suggestions and recommendations thereon. However, National People’s Power Opposition MP Vijitha Herath had informed the Speaker in writing that he would resign from the PSC, while the MPs representing the main Parliamentary Opposition, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), who have been appointed as the members of the PSC, have decided not to participate.

When contacted by The Daily Morning to inquire into the action he would take in view of the situation, Abeywardana said that the continuous resignation and non-attendance of MPs would be a definite hindrance to carrying out its affairs. “If this continues to happen, the PSC won’t be able to run. A new PSC will therefore have to be appointed.” In response to a query as to whether there is a possibility of appointing new members in place of those who would resign and boycott, he said: “Yes, it can also be done.”

The Daily Morning also queried the Speaker if he would consider making any change to the chairmanship of the PSC, to which he responded: “It is not possible to make such a change unless he (the PSC Chairman) resigns, or the majority members of the PSC ask him to do so.”

Abeywardana recently announced the appointment of the relevant PSC chaired by SLPP General Secretary and Government MP attorney Sagara Kariyawasam. The other members of the PSC are SLPP MPs attorney Pavithra Devi Wanniarachchi (also Minister), D.V. Chanaka (State Minister), Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Jayantha Ketagoda, Dr. Pradeep Undugoda, Sanjeewa Edirimanna, Nalaka Bandara Kottegoda, and Prof. Ranjith Bandara; SJB MPs Eran Wickramaratne, Ashok Abeysinghe, and Harshana Rajakaruna; and Tamil National Alliance MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam.

Several parties have, however, criticised the appointment of Kariyawasam as the PSC’s Chairman and its composition. The allegations are mainly based on the fact that all SLPP MPs who have been appointed as its members have been in the Government of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, during whose tenure, it is claimed, the economic crisis emerged in the country due to improper economic policies.