Party leaders should decide COPE membership of MPs with Aloysius connections: Speaker

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya told Parliament yesterday that leaders of the political parties represented in the Committee on Public Enterprises must decide on the membership of the Committee’s members who had allegedly had dealings with Perpetual Treasuries Head Arjun Aloysius.

The Speaker gave this ruling in response to a request made by Joint Opposition MP Shehan Semasinghe who called on the Chair to remove COPE members who had financial transactions with Aloysius from the Committee.

“We appreciate the efforts you have made to safeguard the dignity of MPs, but we request you to remove the COPE members who have received cheques from Aloysius,” Semasinghe told the Speaker.

The Speaker said that it was the responsibility of the leaders of the political parties who represent the COPE.

“I will take up the matter with the leaders of these political parties,” the Speaker assured the House.