The Leader of the House, Minister Bimal Ratnayake, announced that the chairmanship of the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) will be assigned to the opposition.
He made this statement in Parliament today (6), in response to a question raised during discussions on the Committee on Parliamentary Affairs or the Party Leaders’ Meeting.
Elaborating on the matter, Minister Ratnayake stated:
“We have decided to allocate the chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee to the opposition, which goes beyond their initial request. Additionally, the number of members in the Public Accounts Committee has been increased beyond what is stipulated in the standing orders.
We have also determined that the chairmanship of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) should remain with the ruling party. During the initial phase, we will need to scrutinize matters related to the previous government. It would not be ethical for a former minister of that government to assume the chairmanship of COPE.”
Separately, Minister Ratnayake informed Parliament that the deadline for appointing sectoral committees has been extended to January 31.
He also mentioned that a decision on the appointment of the Finance Committee would be finalized later in the afternoon.
Furthermore, he emphasized the need to appoint 24 ministerial advisory committees, including those for the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, and the Ministry of Digital Economy.
