Treasury Secretary informs he will not appear before CoPF tomorrow

Colombo, April 29 (Daily Mirror) - Secretary to the Treasury Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma has informed the Committee on Public Finance (CoPF) that he will not appear before the committee tomorrow.

He was summoned to appear before the Committee on Public Finance (CoPF) to provide explanations regarding a cyber theft involving the alleged loss of USD 2.5 million.

CoPF Chairman Dr. Harsha De Silva said in a post on X that the decision of the Treasury Secretary is unacceptable as the Constitution of Sri Lanka places full control of public Finance with Parliament and by standing order COPF is directly responsible for oversight on debt repayment among many other important matters. 

"Summoning him is not an act of discretion but a constitutional duty of the Committee. He has to answer questions by the committee. And he had the opportunity to put the ‘record straight’ if by any chance he was being wrongly accused. But why is he running away? What is there to hide? As the incumbent Treasury Secretary, he has a responsibility. He must fulfil that responsibility or if he cannot, he must give it to someone who can. This is also personal to him since he is the first ever politician to occupy this important civil service position; he sat as an MP of the JVP/NPP government and even as a member of our Committee till the day before this appointment. This high handed act shows total lack of respect for the parliamentary system of checks and balances that is so critical post-crisis. It is a kick in the face of the promised ‘system change’ the people of this country voted for. It is also a breakdown of the undertaking to the IMF," he said.