After prorogation fifty Committees are non-functional

Parliamentary business and good governance had hit a setback as more than 50 Parliamentary Committees are non-functional including the all important Committee On Public Enterprises (COPE) and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) even after the re-constitution of these committees after the recent prorogation, Parliamentary sources revealed yesterday.

Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara announced the re-constitution of these committees on July 10 as all the House Committees ceased to function with the prorogation of Parliament by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on May 6, he said. There are 55 House Committees attending to various government businesses, public issues and affairs connected to the legislature, he pointed out.

“For instance, the all important COPE, Public Accounts Committee, Public Petitions Committee, Committee on Parliamentary Business, Committees on Standing Orders and Privileges, Legislative Standing Committee, Constitutional Standing Committee and Committee on Standing Orders have not been properly constituted as the member parliamentarians have not appointed the Chairmen of these committees,” the source said.

Normally the subject minister gets the chairmanship of each committee except COPE as on many instances a member from the opposition holds the chairmanship of COPE to maintain transparency, he said.

But the irony is that the public cannot send their petitions to the Public Petitions Committee as it is non-functional. This would not auger well for good governance, he stressed.

Meanwhile, Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara said  the non-participation of Members of Parliament in Standing Committees was to be blamed for the non- functioning of these Committees.

“I have done my part. I have already announced the re-constitution of Parliamentary Standing Committees. It is up to the member parliamentarians to appoint the chairmen and make of these Committees functional,” he emphasised.

Commenting on the large number of petitions received by the Public Petitions Committee, he said a petition must come to the Public Petitions Committee as the last resort after all avenues were exhausted in dealing with a grievance of a citizen.

“What is happening now is that the public are sending petitions to Parliament through their MPs expecting a quick fix. This is not a good trend as the Committee is inundated with thousands of petitions. The public must learn to send their petitions to the Public Petitions Committee after exhausting all avenues for remedy,” Mr. Lokubandara opined.