State Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna has been appointed as the chairperson of the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA).

Alagiyawanna was elected as the new Chair of the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) with a majority of votes at the first meeting of the COPA held today (Feb. 24) for the Fourth Session of the Ninth Parliament.

Alagiyawanna’s name was proposed by State Minister Prasanna Ranaweera and was seconded by State Minister (Dr.) Suren Raghavan.

The name of MP Kabir Hashim, proposed for the COPA chairmanship by MP Ashok Abeysinghe, was seconded by MP Mano Ganesan.

Hashim secured 07 votes while Alagiyawanna received 14 votes. Accordingly, the latter was picked as the new COPA chair.

Following his new appointment, Alagiyawanna stated that he has gained a lot of experience by representing a number of committees since 2004, and that he hopes to fulfill his duties independently for the country regardless of party differences within the COPA and expects the support of all committee members in order to do so.

Furthermore, the COAP chair pointed out that the Committee on Public Accounts, being the oldest committee in the history of parliament, will complete 100 years in October 2023.

As the COPA supervises the process following the passing of the budget by the parliament, on behalf of the parliament which has control over the country’s finances, Alagiyawanna stated that this committee has the same responsibility as the House.

State Ministers Mohan Priyadarshan De Silva, Prasanna Ranaweera, Kader Mastan, Dr. Suren Raghavan, Diana Gamage, Chamara Sampath Dasanayake along with other MPs S.B. Dissanayake, Wajira Abeywardana, A.L.M. Athaullah, Kabir Hashim, Mano Ganesan, Dr. Sarath Weerasekera, Niroshan Perera, J. C. Alawathuwala, Vadivel Suresh, Ashok Abeysinghe, Jayantha Ketagoda, Hector Appuhamy, Dr. Major Pradeep Undugoda, Isuru Dodangoda, Sahan Pradeep Withana and D. Weerasinghe were present at the Committee meeting held.

In the meantime, SLPP MP Prof. Ranjith Bandara was re-elected yesterday as the new chair of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) with a majority of votes, while SJB MP Mayantha Dissanayake was selected as the new chair of Committee on Public Finance (COPF).

However, fellow SJB MP Harsha de Silva took issue with Dissayanake’s appointment, alleging that his unwillingness to “protect thieves” cost him the COPF chairmanship. He accused the government of having him sacked from the position due to his unpopular decisions.