COPE: Moving beyond media spotlight

The Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) is one of the prominent committees within the legislature which is empowered to review the annual accounts and performance of public enterprises as well as to ascertain the extent to which enterprises achieve performance targets and fulfil social responsibilities. Topics like bribery, corruption, wastage of public funds and misuse of State resources have dominated the public discourse in the aftermath of Aragalaya and the 2022 economic crisis. The recent proceedings of COPE have generated considerable public interest and media publicity.

During the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration, COPE was chaired by Sunil Handunneththi who was an Opposition MP at the time. Few months ago, SJB leader Sajith Premadasa requested from President Dissanayake to consider giving the chairmanship of the watchdog committee to an MP from the Opposition; however, the latter rejected it based on the necessity to investigate the various frauds and misdemeanours said to have taken place during the tenure of the previous Governments, including the presidency of Sirisena in which many current Opposition MPs held responsibilities.

Galle District NPP MP Nishantha Samaraweera, who is a medical practitioner, is heading COPE within the current parliamentary session. Many MPs in the past have made use of the chairmanship of COPE to enhance their political reputations and statures while some others were accused of using the coveted position to gain undue benefits. During the previous Parliament, for a certain period of time the Committee was headed by the former SLPP MP Ranjith Bandara who was accused of improper conduct apart from having conflicts of interest. He was criticised for being partial towards Sri Lanka Cricket when the governing body of the sport was summoned before COPE in 2023 due to his alleged dealings with the island’s cricket administration. Last week, the hearings of the committee disclosed widespread corruption within the National Gem and Jewellery Authority (NGJA) and Secretary to the Ministry of Industries and Entrepreneurship Development Thilaka Jayasundara severely castigated the institution which is entrusted with the task of regulating the country’s gem industry by claiming its existence has done more harm than good to the gem industry. Although COPE has been able to discover large-scale frauds in public enterprises over the years, no tangible improvement has been observed in the governance of public corporations.

On certain instances, the recommendations of the parliamentary oversight committee had not been fully implemented while the required follow-up actions had not been undertaken to take action against the wrongdoers. In 2023, Sri Lanka Export Credit Insurance Corporation (SLECIC) was summoned before COPE, and its conduct was sternly censured by the members of the Committee together with the Auditor General. Moreover, the Committee ordered to conduct a forensic audit and provide a report promptly regarding the corruption and irregularities that occurred in the institutional, administrative, financial, and procurement activities of the Export Credit Agency (ECA) from 2011 to 2023. 

The forensic audit was carried out by the reputed audit firm Ernst & Young and as per the contractual agreement; the final report had to be submitted within 90 days from the day of signing the contract. Nevertheless, the final report of the forensic audit has not yet been submitted to the Parliament and alarmingly it has been reported in the media that critical dossiers related to the investigation had been destroyed allegedly by a senior employee of SLECIC.  After SLECIC had been censured by COPE, the service of its former General Manager was suspended. Upon the NPP assuming power, Prof. Aruna Shanthaarchchi – an academic from Sabaragamuwa University – was appointed as Chairman of the ECA and he is a regular participant of media talk shows on behalf of the Government. The NPP was elected on a mandate to wipe out systemic corruption in the country and it should take decisive action to strengthen COPE further in addition to taking meaningful steps to improve the governance and accountability of public corporations.