Opposition MP Kabir Hashim appointed COPA chairman
COLOMBO – In a unanimous decision, Parliament on Wednesday (5) appointed Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Kabir Hashim as the Chairman of the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA), one of the two financial committees in Parliament.
The appointment follows the nomination of 27 members each to COPA and the Committee on Public Enterprise (COPE) by the Parliament Committee of Section on Monday (3).
COPA is tasked with probing the managerial efficiency and financial discipline of the government, its ministries, departments, provincial councils and local authorities, while COPE is tasked with examining the accounts of the public corporations and of any business undertaking vested in the government. The two Committees have the power to summon before them and question any person, call for and examine any paper, book, record or other documents and to have access to stores and property.
The SJB has been calling for the chairmanships of COPE, COPA and the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) to be given to the opposition.
SJB parliamentarian Harsha de Silva already chairs COPF. However, he withdrew his name from the COPE membership on Tuesday (4) to make way for former COPE chairman Charitha Herath who complained that he had been excluded from the committee.
-ENCL
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