… Dissident SLPPers express contradictory views

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Prof. Ranjith Bandara, MP, yesterday (09) said that there was absolutely no basis for claims that he was asked to step down as Chairman of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) by anyone.

The SLPP National List MP said so when The Island sought his response to Pivithru Hela Urumaya (PHU) leader Udaya Gammanpila’s claim that President Ranil Wickremesinghe prorogued Parliament thus dissolved over 60 parliamentary committees just to get rid of one MP who refused to step down.

Colombo District MP Gammanpila made the declaration in Parliament on Thursday (08). National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Wimal Weerawansa, MP, recently alleged that President Wickremesinghe prorogued Parliament to save Prof. Bandara, embroiled in a controversy over his handling of the COPE investigation into Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).

Declaring that he hadn’t been asked to quit, under any circumstances, the academic pointed out that the two Opposition MPs contradicted each other.

President Wickremesinghe prorogued Parliament in accordance with the powers vested in him under Article 70 (1) of the Constitution with effect from midnight January 26. The fifth session of the Ninth Parliament commenced on 07 February. COPE is among the committees that had been dissolved due to the prorogation, the second time since Wickremesinghe became President after the Parliament voted him in to complete the balance term of the elected President Gatabaya Rajapaksa after apparent foreign instigated violent protests ousted him.

Prof. Bandara dismissed Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa’s demand for him to give up leadership of COPE over the SLC controversy as nothing but political rhetoric.

Several members of the Opposition asked Prof. Bandara to step down, at least temporarily, to facilitate the probe on SLC in respect of the Auditor General’s report on the disastrous T 20 cricket tour of Australia. The Opposition subsequently stepped up pressure on Prof. Bandara in the wake of revelation that his son participated in COPE proceedings as well as his previous dealings with SLC. Prof. Bandara is on record as having said that his son Kanishka attended COPE proceedings in his capacity as co coordinating secretary to the COPE Chairman.

Addressing Parliament on Thursday the PHU leader pointed out that the Parliament elected in 1977 lasted till 1989-a period of 12 years but there were only eight sessions throughout that period. The former Power and Energy Minister said that prorogation of Parliament disrupted many committees and such a course of action to remove chairman of one committee must be a world record.

However, dissident SLPP National List MP Prof. G. L. Peiris told a media briefing early this week, at his Kirula Road residence, that the prorogation of Parliament was meant to disrupt the workings of six parliamentary committees which dealt with public finance.

The dissolved mechanisms were the Public Finance Commission, the Public Accounts Committee, Committee on Public Enterprises, Economic Stabilization Committee, Ways and Means Committee and Banking Sector and Financial Management Committee. According to Prof. Peiris, out of 91 committees in operation in Parliament, 64 have been dissolved.