• Minister in hot water over December critique of Auditor General, COPE

The Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) has decided to complain to the Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana and President Ranil Wickremesinghe regarding the criticism publicly levelled against the COPE and the Auditor General by Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara.

At a special meeting of the COPE held on 5 January, Nanayakkara’s “challenging and severe criticism” with regard to the office of the Auditor General and the powers of the COPE had been discussed.

A press release issued by Parliament noted that attention had been particularly drawn to three main points at the COPE meeting chaired by MP Prof. Ranjith Bandara – namely, appointing 12 members for four sub-committees with the aim of expanding the activities of the COPE and actively involving its members in the committee’s activities; determining which institutions should be summoned to the COPE in 2023 and which institutions should be followed up on from those currently summoned; and thirdly, discussing the challenging and severe criticism with regard to the office of the Auditor General and the powers of the COPE by Nanayakkara at the official ceremony held for the National Productivity Awards on 22 December 2022, under the patronage of Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena. The committee had agreed to work under the guidance of the Auditor General with regard to the second matter, where it was also decided that field visits to the relevant institutions would be conducted if necessary. 

The press release also noted that the Auditor General had informed the COPE in a letter about the severe criticism made by Nanayakkara with regard to the powers of the Auditor General and the COPE, and had pointed out that although he had stated the same as an MP and a Cabinet Minister, the COPE – which is established through the Parliamentary system to strengthen the financial control of Parliament – has not exceeded its powers and has not supported any initiatives to do so. Furthermore, the Auditor General had pointed out that statements made in a manner that violates the trust of the public sector, public representatives, and the general public in the implementation of the tasks and duties assigned to the Auditor General by the Constitution and other written laws are highly harmful to the expectations of Parliamentary financial control.

Accordingly, the following proposals and decisions had been presented by the committee after a lengthy discussion on this matter: The committee has decided that the statement by Nanayakkara sets a negative precedent, and, while expressing its strong displeasure in this regard, had further decided to express its regret to the Auditor General and his staff; the committee has decided to make a complaint to the Speaker of Parliament regarding this statement; the committee has decided to inform the President in writing about the Executive’s interference in the legislative process through this statement and to send a copy of it to the Cabinet of Ministers and the Premier; the committee has decided to inform the Secretary to the Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment in a letter, to submit the progress of the implementation of the recommendations given in the last COPE meeting within two days and to appear before the COPE on 17 January; the committee has decided to table a special report in Parliament based on the discussion notes of the previous COPE meetings related to the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau; and the committee has decided to draw attention to the summoning of sensitive institutions, especially financial institutions, in the current economic situation.