VoA lapse has no impact on public finance: PM

• Says Opposition contention to reconvene Parliament is “absurd” 
• Argues President has right to withdraw funds from Consolidated Fund 
• No need for parliamentary oversight till elections 
• Contends new Parliament can raise expenditure questions
• Insists sole focus needs to be COVID-19 mitigation 

Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday dismissed as “absurd” the contention by the Opposition that the President cannot allocate funds after the lapse of the Vote on Account (VoA) and said any questions on expenditure can be raised once the new Parliament is convened.

Releasing a statement on the constitutional implications that could be created with the lapse of the VoA at the end of April, Rajapaksa steadfastly refused to consider the Opposition view that Parliament oversight is needed when more funds are allocated from the Consolidated Fund. 

“They claim that the previous Government had passed a VoA up to 30 April and that therefore, after this date, the President has no authority to allocate funds for any purpose. This is an absurd argument,” Rajapaksa said in the statement. 

The Prime Minister renewed his criticism of the Opposition blocking the Government’s attempt to raise the borrowing ceiling of the VoA in February to pay Government suppliers, including medicine and fertiliser providers. Rajapaksa said the move by the Opposition was sorely to bring “disrepute” to the Government. 

“The Opposition argues that Article 150(3) of the Constitution allows the President to allocate funds for the running of government services at a time when Parliament has been dissolved only if the previous Parliament had not passed an Appropriation Act. They claim that the previous government had passed a VoA up to 30 April and that therefore, after this date, the President has no authority to allocate funds for any purpose.” 

He went onto contend that under Article 150(3) of the Constitution, the President has complete authority to allocate funds for any purpose for which funds had not been allocated by Parliament. 

“It goes without saying that if Parliament has already allocated funds for a given purpose, there is no need for the President to intervene in the matter. The Opposition also alleges that the President is not reconvening Parliament with the ulterior motive of misusing the funds coming in from abroad for the anti-COVID-19 campaign.

“They contend that Parliament should be reconvened to supervise how that money is spent. All funds received by the Government go to the Treasury via the Central Bank system. There are procedures that have to be followed in spending this money. Funds in the Treasury cannot be spent in the manner that Yahapalana Ministers spent the money of the Central Cultural Fund,” the strongly worded statement added. 

Rajapaksa also said after the new Parliament convenes, the Opposition will have the opportunity to raise questions about how Government money was spent between the time of the dissolution of the old Parliament and the convening of the new Parliament. 

“Until then they should refrain from misleading the public with blatant lies. At this moment, we should set politics aside and concentrate on controlling the COVID-19 outbreak and restoring normalcy to people’s lives.” 

Rajapaksa also expressed his gratitude to the Tri-Forces and other public sector officials who have been engaged in countering COVID-19 in Sri Lanka and providing essential services. He also pointed out the large cluster that formed at the Welisara Navy Camp was an example of how quickly the virus could spread and expressed his hope that all the patients would recover quickly.