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The ‘Yahapalanaya’ Government that came to power with the promise to put a stop to corruption, is now engulfed in the mother of all scandals of political corruption, by way of the Treasury Bond (TB) scam.

The hornets’ nest opened by way of the Commission of Inquiry (PCI) appointed to look into the TB scam, is beginning to reveal the true extent of the nexus between the businessman at the center of the scandal, Arjun Aloysius of Perpetual Treasuries Ltd, and politicians across the political divide, with more names of politicians who accepted funding from the tainted businessman and his companies, likely to emerge in the days ahead.

Revelations that many MPs have received funds for their election campaigns, from companies linked to Aloysius, led to its discussion in Parliament this week.

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has been under pressure to get to the bottom of the allegations that, the names of 118 MPs are contained in the annexures to the PCI Report, which were not tabled in Parliament along with the rest of the Report.

The Speaker told Parliament on Tuesday, he had received 11 pages out of 360 pages of unpublished sections of the CI Report, from the Presidential Secretariat.

“Once I receive the entire Report, I will make it available to all MPs, and the complete Report would be tabled in Parliament,” he assured.

However, he cast doubts about claims that the names of 118 MPs were in the Report. “All the relevant authorities have informed me that such a list does not exist in the CI Report. The Police too, informed me of the speculation that about 25 security officers of several MPs had been questioned for encashing cheques received from Arjun Aloysius, are false,” he said.

The Speaker also informed the House that he has requested President’s Secretary Austin Fernando to hand over all the annexures to the PCI Report, as soon as possible. “The Secretary is not in the country at the moment. I hope he would accede to my request, on his return. I also sought the support of both the Attorney General and the Inspector General of Police on this matter. Therefore, the complete Report would be presented to Parliament in the near future,” he said.

The concern of the Speaker, as well as some MPs is that, both, Parliament as well as MPs’ reputation, has been damaged by the unfolding details of the TB scam.

Several members of the Joint Opposition (JO) Group in Parliament, gave affidavits to the Speaker saying, they had not accepted money from companies linked to the controversial businessman, and requested that all MPs be asked to submit such affidavits. The Speaker, however, turned down this request saying, he had no right to make such requests of MPs.

While the TB scam is taking its toll on the Government on one hand, the growing split between President Maithripala Sirisena and the UNP too, became more apparent in Parliament, with the UNP deciding to contest for the post of Deputy Speaker, to oppose a candidate proposed by the SLFP.

On Tuesday, UNP MP Ananda Kumarasiri was elected Deputy Speaker, with 97 votes, as opposed to 53 received by UPFA MP Dr Sudarashini Fernandopulle, in a secret ballot held to choose a replacement for MP Thilanga Sumathipala who resigned from the post last month.

Mr Kumarasiri’s name was proposed by Matara District UNP MP Buddhika Pathirana and seconded by Kurunegala District MP Nalin Bandara Jayamaha, while MP S.B Dissanayake who is among the 16 SLFP MPs who quit the Government recently, proposing the name of Dr Fernandopulle, and seconded by MP Vasudeva Nanayakkara.

The TNA and the JVP abstained from voting.

There is no doubt that, when Parliament next meets in the 3rd week of June, the discussion, once again, will be about the TB scam and its fallout. The PCI that probed the scam, opened a Pandora’s box which now threatens to consume a large number of Lawmakers who have long used Parliamentary privileges to cover-up allegations of corruption against them.

Despite all the shortcomings of the ‘Yahapalanaya’ Government, the hope is that, these revelations made possible due to the more transparent and accountable system put in place by this Government, will lead to enactment of Laws regarding election funding, and make it possible for the public to access information regarding who funds politicians and political parties, and by how much.