Probe Speaker’s and Minister’s financial deals: MP

By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana  

Raising a privilege issue in Parliament , opposition MP Dayasiri Jayasekera yesterday called for a probe on Speaker Jagath Wickremaratne and Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe who have disclosed assets earned through certain financial instruments and to reveal how they have earned such properties.  

The MP said the following in his statement.  

“ I am raising this issue under the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act No 21 of 1953 and was amended by the Code of Conduct for MPs introduced on march 7 2018 under which MPs are called upon to reveal their assets and liabilities.  

The Commission for Investigation of Allegations on Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) had revealed details of MPs assets and liabilities and financial activities on its website. Accordingly it has been revealed that Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe holds crypto currency worth 3000 while Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne holds USDT 1850 in his Binance account. According to an order issued under the Foreign Exchange Act No 12 of 2017. , the use of debit and credit cards for crypto currency transactions is also prohibited. The Central Bank points out that crypto currencies do not contribute to the country’s economy and can also cause a loss of foreign exchange by adversely affecting the national financial system.  

The Central Bank Governor has stated that this kind of transactions under money laundering laws.  

MPs are bound to submit a report on their financial engagements to the privileges committee as per section 22 of the privilege’s Act.  

The Sri Lankan society has adopted a certain ideology on the assets of MPs after CIABOC published their assets on its website. It was the expectation of the people that politicians should earn assets in an honest manner which brought the present government into power. This expectation is affected by the recent happenings with regard to declaration of assets and liabilities of MPs. Time has come for those who pledged to forego privileges to show their honesty.  

It is important for the Parliament to carry out a probe and inform if an MP has violated the stipulated privileges Act. Either CIABOC of CID should carry such a probe. The Speaker and the Minister should be arrested and produced before courts if it is found that they have committed an offence.