COPE gets consensus!

• Single report expected to be presented to P’ment on Friday 

By Dharisha Bastians

After a tumultuous week that exposed major rifts in the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), the 26 member oversight body finally reached consensus on the controversial Central Bank Treasury bond auction report last night. 

COPE Chairman Sunil Handunetti said all members of the committee had finally agreed on the report, which he would table in Parliament tomorrow.

“The COPE investigation into the CBSL bond auctions is now complete,” Handunetti said yesterday.

Heated debates, claims and counter-claims ensued all week after Chairman Handunetti and opposition MPs accused ruling party members of attempting to change the report on the alleged bond scam drafted by the oversight committee after a 21 month investigation.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Harsha De Silva told Daily FT that as he had predicted earlier this week, COPE would only present one report. The report would be presented by the Chairman with amendments, De Silva said after the meeting last night.

“This whole process is a testament to how much this country has changed,” the Deputy Foreign Minister told Daily FT. He said that it was a sea-change that an opposition MP who was so strongly opposed to the Government could preside over the investigation and get consensus from all sides on his final report.

UPFA Lawmaker and Joint Opposition Member Mahindananda Aluthgamage told Daily FT that the COPE had come to an “amicable settlement” during yesterday’s meeting, which was attended by about 80% of the membership of the oversight committee. 

Aluthgamage said that the two main recommendations of the COPE dealing with responsibility for the alleged bond scam had been retained. The report would also record amendments proposed by UNP members, he added.

Daily FT learns that the COPE report to be presented to the House tomorrow is likely to find former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran and Perpetual Treasuries responsible for the controversial transaction and will recommend legal action.