COPE chairman hits out at Govt.
The chairman of a powerful all-party parliamentary committee who crossed over to the opposition has hit out at the fiscal record of the Sri Lanka government.
National list parliamentarian Wijayadasa Rajapakse, PC, said the Appropriation Bill presented by President Rajapaksa was an attempt to undermine the authority of the legislature. The chairman of the parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) said he could not vote for the budget proposals according to the conscience. Undermining parliament "The parliament is not informed of how they plans to spend Rs. 50700 million," he told BBC Sandeshaya. He accused the government of empowering the Secretary of the Treasury, PB Jayasundara, undermining the power of the legislature. The powerful all-party parliamentary committee published a detailed report on corruption and misappropriation of public funds earlier this year. Jayasundara and Commissioner of Inland Revenue were named as corrupt officials in the report, the former legal advisor to the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) said. COPE report "In 2007, the treasury spent Rs. 20000 million without the approval of the parliament". Wijayadasa Rajapaksa demanded investigations against those named in the COPE report including senior ministers Karu Jayasuriya and Milinda Moragoda. "Only Rs. 9000 million is provided by the budget for nine million Samurdhi beneficiaries in Sri Lanka," Wijayadasa Rajapaksa told BBC Sinhala.com. "However the government is spending Rs. 23750 million for the upkeep of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and 107 ministers".