COPE makes no strictures against PM over 30-year bond issue – govt.

* "According to Handunnetti there would have been no losses if PM’s recommendation had been followed."

by Zacki Jabbar-November 2, 2016

The Committee on Public Enterprises ( COPE) Chairman and JVP MP Sunil Handunnetti had cleared Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe of any wrongdoing in the issue of 30- year bonds by the Central Bank in February 2015, but Mahinda Rajapaksa loyalists were trying to implicate him falsely in the transaction, the government said yesterday.

Co-Cabinet Spokesman Rajitha Senaratne told the weekly post-Cabinet press briefing in Colombo to announce Cabinet decisions, that nowhere in the COPE report was it stated that the Prime Minister was responsible for the actions of former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran.

Senaratne said Handunnetti had not only cleared the Prime Minister but also pointed out that if the 30-year bonds had been auctioned according to Wickremesinghe’s recommendation, no losses would have been suffered by the State.

According to the COPE Report the loss was around Rs.1.6 billion and the matter had been referred to the Attorney General for advice on what course of action needed to be followed, the Minister said.

Responding to statements by some Opposition MPs that the Prime Minister was responsible for Mahendran’s actions, Senaratne said: "It’s an irresponsible remark. If we go on that basis the appointing authority in every case would be permanently answerable for the actions of their appointees. Public officials are not kids and have to take responsibility for their actions."

Senaratne noted that former COPE Chairman D.E.W Gunasekera, Prof.G.L.Peiris and their comrades in arms, were as usual trying to mislead the public by making false statements.

Emphasising that the government would not protect any minister or public official who did wrong, Senaratne said the Prime Minister had done his duty by referring the COPE report to the Attorney General.

Rajapaksa loyalists, Senaratne observed, were harping on one case while conveniently having forgotten the massive losses suffered due to the Greek Bonds transaction amounting to around USD 200 million, millions of dollars in the hedging deal, the Rs.600 million given to the LTTE and many other corrupt deals. "None of these transactions were referred to the COPE. But the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government which is committed to good governance and the rule of law, promptly submitted the COPE Report on the Bond issue to the AG, without dilly-dallying."

Senaratne said that those MPs and some journalists who had shouted themselves hoarse over the 30-year bond issue, were scared to open their mouths and shivered in their boots when Mahinda Rajapaksa was President, due to fear of "white Vans."

"Be reasonable and compare the environment now for freedom of expression, with that of the terror stricken Rajapaksa era," he added.