Letter and the spirit of COPE

“If I am fit to become MP, why can’t I be the Chair of COPE?” asked the recently appointed head of Parliament’s Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE). This is indeed a pertinent question. Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Rohitha Abeygunawardena was elected as the new Chairman of COPE two weeks ago which sparked a wave of resignations of other MPs in the committee.

The first MP to resign, Eran Wickramaratne, is arguably the most suited to be in this. He is a professional banker, former State minister in charge of finance with an impeccable record on financial integrity. He was followed by MPs Dayasiri Jayasekera, Professor Charitha Herath, S.M. Marikkar, Gamini Waleboda, Hesha Vithanage, Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam, Wasantha Yapa Bandara, Duminda Dissanayake and Anura Kumara Dissanayake. This has left the much valued and needed oversight committee as a mere Government appendage with little credibility or integrity.

As a tradition, recent administrations had adopted the practice of appointing a COPE Chairman who was a member of the Opposition to strengthen the principle that the legislature should be a check and balance on the executive arm of the Government. As a result, there had been at least some degree of accountability by the State Owned Enterprises which could be summoned before the committee. The present administration has not only deviated from this tradition but has made an absolute mockery of the oversight committee by appointing a manifestly unsuitable individual as its Chair.

While Abeygunawardena’s assertion that if he is fit to be an MP then he should be equally fit to be the Chair of COPE is factually and legally accurate, it is indeed against the spirit of oversight, accountability and checks and balances. COPE is meant to ensure the observance of financial discipline in public corporations and other semi-Governmental bodies in which the Government has a financial stake.

It is the duty of the Committee to report to Parliament on accounts examined, Budgets and estimates, financial procedures, performance and management of corporations and other Government business undertakings. While an individual’s formal education, or lack thereof, need not reflect his capacity or integrity, in the case of Abeygunawardena, it is an addition to the numerous reasons why he is unsuitable for the job. A man who had not completed secondary education is today the Chairman of the most important parliamentary oversight committee on public enterprises while the likes of Wickramaratne have resigned from the committee.

Abeygunawardena who started his political career as the driver to a former cabinet minister, later went on to be accused by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) of accumulating hundreds of millions of rupees in undeclared assets, and was investigated by the courts for corruption. The Bribery Commission filed a case against him over unlawful acquisition of assets to the tune of Rs. 41.2 million while serving as a minister from 2010 to 2014. When the case was taken up in 2021 however, with the change of Government and a string of acquittals in bribery cases, the high court judge ordered to release Minister Abeygunawardena as the attorneys representing the Bribery Commission informed that they do not wish to proceed with the legal matter.

This appointment, along with many others continue to erode even the little trust and credibility left within the Sri Lankan governance system. The Government is not doing itself any favours by such callous disregard for public opinion.