Parliament has suspended the functions of the committe investigating corruption in public organisations known as COPE with immidiate effect.
COPE came under heavy fire and scrutiny in Parliament amid calls for its disbanding and replacement of investigators after its head Ranjith Bandara was accused of aligning itself with the alleged corrupt cricket officials it was investigating.
The announcement to suspend the functions of COPE was made by the Speaker of Parliament.
It marked the first time since its inauguration in 1979 that COPE was, in cricket parlance, no-balled for conduct unbecoming of its mandate given to it by Parliament.
“COPE has lost its credibility and should not be allowed to proceed any further”, former Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera told Parliament on Thursday.
