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Under the Constitution, it is Parliament that has powers over public finances. With the country undergoing its gravest economic crisis in decades, MPs naturally would look to the Finance Minister to brief them on the situation and how the Government intends to overcome the crisis. Finance Minister Rajapaksa, for reasons best known to him, has so far avoided this, and this apparent reluctance to face questioning from MPs prompted those in the Opposition to hit out at him this week.

On Thursday, Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella noted that Mr Rajapaksa had last spoken in Parliament on December 10 during the Budget debate, exactly three months ago. “There have been crises on different fronts all over the country since then. This country has already gone bankrupt. Yet he has not made a statement in Parliament regarding the country’s financial situation,” Mr Kiriella charged.

He urged the Speaker to summon the minister to Parliament and order him to brief MPs on the matter.

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena insisted he had no power to order MPs to attend Parliament or compel ministers to make statements. He asked the Opposition to request a formal debate on the economic situation.

“The Finance Minister’s statements that have been made in the open to the international and local media, plus officially, has always been debated in the House by you and we have agreed to debates on all the occasions you have requested. Our ministers have also replied (to questions),” shot back Leader of the House Dinesh Gunawardena.

Mr Gunawardena however, sidestepped the point that the Finance Minister had failed to make a statement in Parliament on the economic situation. Instead, he has preferred to let others answer questions directed to him. After the Opposition raised issue, Mr Rajapaksa briefly showed up in Parliament on Thursday afternoon but again did not make a speech.

National People’s Power (NPP) Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake raised the same issue on Friday, after the Central Bank had devalued the Rupee. The devaluation had resulted in the Rupee falling in relation to the US Dollar from Rs 203 to Rs 260 within two days and has sent shockwaves across the economy, with the prices of essential items skyrocketing, the NPP Leader pointed out.

“I believe even Government MPs would want to find out what is happening and where this will stop. It is a fundamental responsibility of the Finance Minister to brief Parliament on this. It is clear to all of us that this is not a normal situation. This is the first time in history that the dollar had shot up by nearly 60 rupees in two days. The economy is in a precarious situation,” Mr Dissanayake asserted. He too urged the Speaker to order the Finance Minister to brief Parliament.

The Government is not going to run away from debating the economic situation or answering questions on it, Leader of the House Dinesh Gunawardena said. He claimed that the situation in Sri Lanka was similar to other places in the world. Oil prices were going up. Even the US and Russia were facing oil crises.

“The Finance Minister came to Parliament, but if you have a specific question, make a formal request and we will grant a debate.”

With daily scheduled power cuts and a crippling fuel shortage heaping more misery on the people, the Opposition also moved an adjournment debate on Thursday on the “Power and Energy Crisis Prevailing in the Country.” The prevailing power crisis is not due to an issue with power plants or drought, Kurunegala District Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Nalin Bandara said, moving the motion. The Government has also now created a water crisis for farmers by using water from hydropower reservoirs to such an extent that their overall capacity had dwindled from a high of over 70% to just 24%, he further claimed. “We have used water set aside for farming in the Yala season to produce electricity. This wrong management of the crisis has got us into this mess.”

The Government was peddling conspiracy theories and claiming sabotage regarding the present crisis without understanding its depth, SJB MP Patali Champika Ranawaka said. “However, if the Rajapaksa family wants to see the conspirators, they only need to go and stand in front of a mirror.”

He warned that the Norochcholai coal power plant only had sufficient coal stocks to operate until June, but the Government did not have dollars to purchase more stocks. “We need 1 million tonnes of coal to last until October, but the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has only ordered 360, 000 tonnes. Even for that, we need USD 100 million,” he stressed. Through improper management, the Government had also squandered the water at hydropower reservoirs, which were at 88% capacity in January, he further alleged, warning that unless drastic steps were taken now, the entire hydropower system would collapse around the final week of March and the first week of April.

The Yahapalana Government did not build a single power plant during its period in office and the country was now paying the price for its incompetence, Power Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi claimed. “We currently have a deficit of about 300 MegaWatts. We were lucky last year in that unusually heavy rains filled our reservoirs to capacity, but we are facing a challenge now because the previous Government failed in its responsibilities.”

Energy Minister Gamini Lokuge meanwhile blamed the COVID pandemic and other “external factors” for the country’s situation. He dismissed Mr Ranawaka’s claims of an impending coal shortage, stating that all necessary coal stocks would be brought to the country by the end of April before the monsoon makes unloading impossible. He claimed that the fuel shortage too will soon be over.

Mr Lokuge also blamed his predecessor, Udaya Gammanpila for the prevailing fuel shortage. “When a minister claims there are only fuel stocks sufficient for three days, it is no wonder that people rush to stock up,” he remarked.

Parliament will reconvene on March 22.