Sri Lanka ruling party MP Ranjith Bandara appointed COPE chair

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) legislator Prof Ranjith Bandara was elected chairman of the parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE).

Bandara, who analysts say is a close ally of SLPP architect Basil Rajapaksa, received 14 votes from the committee membership, while opposition MP Eran Wickramaratne received seven.

Man opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Harsha de Silva complained that the government has denied the COPE chair to an opposition MP.

So Pres @RW_UNP and @PodujanaParty denied #SriLanka @ParliamentLK #COPE chair to the opposition. My resignation has not yet taken effect as it needs to be approved by the Speaker. So I voted for @EranWick, he got 7 vs Ranjith Bandara 15. pic.twitter.com/zwjhmeoCOf

— Harsha de Silva (@HarshadeSilvaMP) October 6, 2022

The SJB has repeatedly called for the chairmanship of COPE, the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) and the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) be given to the opposition, as promised.

MP de Silva chairs COPF, while his SJB colleague Kabir Hashim was appointed COPA chairman on Wednesday. (Colombo/Oct06/2022)