DEW expresses dismay at COPE Chairman’s issue

Former Minister DEW Gunasekera expressed his dismay at the news that COPE Chairman Sunil Handunnetti is to resign at a time when a decision with regard to the Central Bank Governor is imminent.

Gunasekera was speaking at a press conference at the Dr. N. M. Perera Centre in Borella yesterday.

“The COPE Chairman says that the members of his committee are being intimidated by certain quarters. This is an unprecedented situation,” he said

Gunasekera said he held the post of the COPE Chairman for five years. None of the ministers or the President was allowed to meddle with the COPE affairs, he said.

The former minister said he got rid of then Minister Rajitha Senaratne from the COPE Committee and chased away former Minister Mervyn Silva when he came to inquire an issue related to COPE investigations.

“COPE functions should be carried out independently. It resembles a court of law,” he said.

Gunasekera said the Central Bank Governor has put his post into disrepute by way of utilising the funds of the Central Bank, Bank of Ceylon, EPF.

He said the Central Bank Governor should be appointed by the President, not by the Prime Minister. He stressed that a presidential commission needs to be appointed to inquire into the allegations of frauds during the bond issue.