Finance Secretary privilege motion rejected as Speaker says he is not satisfied, prompting Dayasiri Jayasekara to threaten IPU complaint.
Finance Secretary privilege motion filed by Kurunegala District MP and Attorney at Law Dayasiri Jayasekara was rejected in Parliament today (07) by Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne.
The motion, raised by the Samagi Jana Balawegaya MP against Secretary to the Ministry of Finance Harshana Suriyapperuma, was not accepted after the Speaker informed the House that he was not satisfied with its contents.
MP Jayasekara had raised several matters in the motion. These included allegations that the Finance Secretary had failed to report to Parliament on the incident involving the fraudulent diversion of Treasury funds to external parties.
He also alleged that Suriyapperuma had avoided appearing before the Committee on Public Finance and had neglected to present facts before the COPE committee.
According to Jayasekara, these actions amounted to a breach of parliamentary privilege.
Expressing displeasure over the Speaker’s decision, Jayasekara said rejecting the motion was wrong, especially as it contained numerous facts.
He stated that he would take the matter to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, known as the IPU.
Jayasekara further claimed that such conduct had created a situation where some officials could not even travel abroad.
The MP also said information regarding Harshana Suriyapperuma’s citizenship should be submitted to the Privileges Committee.
He further alleged that he had been denied his rightful opportunity due to the intervention of Minister Bimal Rathnayake.
