COPE Committee meetings cancelled until further notice

All meetings of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) have been cancelled until further notice, the Parliament was informed today (Nov 17).

The announcement was made by the Speaker of the House Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena.

The Speaker further said that the COPE Committee will not be convened until issues concerning its Chairman are resolved.

He added that the final decision on the COPE Committee will be taken by its members who are vested with the necessary powers and as per Parliament protocol.

The decision was announced after Opposition Leader MP Sajith Premadasa had alleged that the COPE Committee had convened a meeting at 01.00 pm today, knowing that it was a time at which two of its Muslim members S.M. Marikkar and Rauf Hakeem could not attend.

MP Premadasa accused the COPE Chairman of having purposefully called for the COPE members meeting knowing that these two members cannot attend due to Friday prayers.

Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella also requested the Speaker to provide a proper solution to the issues concerning the COPE Committee, urging not to make it political.

Responding to the claims, the Speaker announced that all meetings of the COPE Committee have been cancelled until further notice.

Concerns have been raised in the recent past on the actions of the COPE Committee Chairman Prof. Ranjith Bandara, especially concerning Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).

He was accused of signalling SLC representatives to allegedly refrain from disclosing information during a recent COPE Committee meeting, while it was also revealed that a private firm headed by him had offered its services to the SLC between 2017 and 2018.

Prof. Ranjith Bandara’s son Kanishka Bandara was also found to have attended the recent COPE meeting with the SLC resulting in the Opposition raising serious concerns over the matter and a violation of their Parliamentary privileges.