Parliament lacks wherewithal to ensure fiscal discipline – Head of Public Finance Committee

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Lawmaker Anura Priyadarshanaya Yapa has said that the Parliament lacks the wherewithal to ensure fiscal discipline though the House is entrusted with that task. MP Yapa, who heads the Committee on Public Finance (COPF), emphasised the urgent need for a system overhaul with proper mechanisms put in place in and out of the Parliament for that purpose. He stressed the need for the Treasury and Parliament had units to prepare, examine and re-examines estimates.

The Kurunegala District MP said so when The Island sought his response to former Attorney General Gamini Wijesinghe’s criticism of Parliament recently over its failure to ensure financial discipline. Wijesinghe blamed Parliament for the overall deterioration of the national economy.

Lawmaker Yapa was among a few MPs present when Wijesinghe delivered the keynote address at an event jointly organised by the March 12 Movement and the polls monitoring body, PAFFREL, at the Sri Lanka Foundation (SLF).

Lawmaker Yapa explained how members of Parliament regardless of their position on a particular finance bill would have to go along with the respective parties. The COPF as well as COPE (Committee on Public Enterprises) and COPA (Committee on Public Accounts) lacked constitutional authority and necessary changes in Standing Orders to address issues at hand, he asserted.

Commenting on Wijesinghe’s proposals meant to restore confidence in the parliamentary system of governance unveiled at the SLF, lawmaker asked whether it would be possible even to think of the executive, the legislature and the judiciary being subjected to normal law of the land. These issues should be discussed in a rationale way taking into consideration the state of the economy at the time decisions were taken as regards development projects, the former minister said.

“There is no point in denying accusations regarding waste, corruption and irregularities in the absence of proper checks and balances. Larger the allocations, bigger the issues,” MP Yapa said. Commenting on COPE and COPA, the former Minister pointed out both watchdog committees dealt with situations inquired into by the Auditor General. Both committees could make recommendations but lacked the authority to ensure required action, the MP pointed out.

COPF Head Yapa also called for a tangible action plan without further delay. The country could not go on living on borrowed money. In spite of quite a number of statements made by various interested parties, there hadn’t been a concentrated effort to address the issues at hand, he said.