• In statement, PM says 20A only seeks to replace provisions relating to AG made by 19A and restore what existed before
• Assures AG powers will not be reduced by proposed amendment  
• Says pre-19A, Presidential Sec. and PM Office have been under AG’s purview coming under powers given by Article 154(1) of Constitution
• Says auditing of State-owned companies (i.e. companies in which State owns more than 50% of shares) too come under Article 154(2)
• Accuses Opp. of propagating various falsehoods in this connection and misleading public

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday refuted allegations that the enactment of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution will reduce the powers of the Auditor General (AG) and remove important institutes from the oversight of the AG.

“All that the 20th Amendment seeks to do is to replace the changes made to the provisions relating to the Auditor General by the 19th Amendment with the provisions that existed before the 19th Amendment,” the Prime Minister said in a statement issued yesterday.

He said the Opposition has been trying to propagate the idea that the AG's powers would be reduced by the proposed constitutional amendment and it is easier to propagate various falsehoods in this connection as it is seldom that the constitutional provisions regarding the AG come to the attention of the public.

He said one such false claim being made is that the 19th Amendment set up an Audit Commission and that the 20th Amendment seeks to abolish it.

“What the 19th Amendment made provision for was not an Audit Commission but only an Audit Service Commission (ASC). The ASC does not carry out any auditing functions. It handles matters like the appointment, promotion, transfer, and disciplinary control of members of the State Audit Service. 

“Usually such matters pertaining to Government servants are dealt with by the Public Service Commission. All that the creation of the ASC achieved was to set up yet another Commission to do the work that was being done by the Public Service Commission,” Rajapaksa said.

He said another such claim being made by the Opposition is that the 20th Amendment seeks to remove the Presidential Secretariat and the Office of the Prime Minister from the purview of the Auditor General.

The Prime Minister explained that from the very inception of the 1978 Constitution, the Presidential Secretariat and the Prime Minister’s Office have been under the purview of the Auditor General. The phrase “all departments of Government” in Article 154(1) of the pre-19th Amendment Constitution brought the Presidential Secretariat and the Prime Minister’s Office under the purview of the Auditor General.

“These institutions were always listed as Government departments in the Government Financial Regulations. Quite apart from these two institutions, even the Office of Former Presidents is listed as a separate Government department and all these institutions were always audited by the Auditor General,” he said.

Rajapaksa said that the inclusion of the Presidential Secretariat and the Office of the Prime Minister by name in Article 154(1), by the 19th Amendment did not achieve anything new.

“Even though they may have not been specifically mentioned by name, from the very inception of the 1978 Constitution, the Presidential Secretariat and Prime Minister’s Office had always been under the purview of the AG. 

“Even after the 20th Amendment reinstates the old article 154(1) which existed from the inception of the 1978 Constitution, in place of the so-called ‘changes’ made by the 19th Amendment, the Presidential Secretariat and the Prime Minister’s Office will continue to remain within the purview of the AG. Over the past decades, it’s the AG who audited the Presidential Secretariat and the Prime Minister’s Office and not some private audit firm.”

The Prime Minister said another falsehood that’s being propagated is that State-owned companies will be removed from the purview of the AG by the 20th Amendment and explained that the auditing of state corporations and State-owned companies (i.e. companies in which the State owns more than 50% of the shares) comes under Article 154(2) of the Constitution.

He said that under the provisions of Article 154(2), the Minister in charge of the subject can assign the auditing of a State corporation or a State-owned company to a qualified audit firm but before doing so, he is mandatorily required to obtain the concurrence of the Finance Minister and also to consult the AG.  

“After the Minister in charge of the subject assigns the auditing of a State corporation or a State-owned company to an audit firm in this manner, the AG can issue a written notice to that audit firm informing them that he proposes to utilise their services for the performance and discharge of the Auditor-General’s duties in relation to that State corporation or State-owned company, and thereupon that audit firm is mandatorily required to act under the direction and control of the AG,” he said.

The Prime Minister added that the contents of Article 154(2) which existed from the inception of the 1978 Constitution, was not changed by the 19th Amendment and will not change under the 20th Amendment either.

“Therefore, it can be said that the content of Article 154(2) has remained the same from the inception of the 1978 Constitution and will continue to remain so in the future as well. Hence the claim that State-owned companies are to be taken out of the purview of the Auditor General, is a complete falsehood.”

Rajapaksa added that it’s also being claimed by Opposition propagandists that the 19th Amendment had stipulated that the AG should be a ‘qualified auditor’ and that when the 20th Amendment reinstates the old pre-19th Amendment Article 153(1) this qualification requirement will be dropped and hence, after the 20th Amendment is passed, even an unqualified person can be appointed as AG.

“Constitutions are written on the assumption that those reading it will have basic common sense. The Constitution does not state anywhere that the person appointed as Attorney General or as a Supreme Court judge has to be a qualified lawyer. But those appointed as Attorney General, Auditor General or a Supreme Court judge will always have the required educational and professional qualifications without which they cannot function in those positions,” the PM said in the statement.

He accused the Opposition has been unhesitatingly uttering every lie that comes to mind with regard to this matter because of the confidence that most people would not be familiar with these obscure provisions of the Constitution and added that it is the people’s duty to understand the facts of the matter and to defeat the unprincipled attempt being made by the Opposition to mislead the people.  

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