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As some political parties met at President’s House for an All Party Conference (APC), those who boycott the event accused the Government of treating the legislature with contempt.

On Thursday, Parliament approved the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill that increased the charge on financial services provided by financial institutions from 15% to 18% with retrospective effect from January 1, 2022. The amendment was earlier approved by Parliament’s Committee on Public Finance (CPF).  

Chaired by Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, the CPF had summoned Central Bank (CBSL) Governor and the Monetary Board for a meeting on Monday, only to be told they will come on Thursday. Yet at 10.25a.m. on the Thursday, they sent a fax notifying their inability to attend, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP and CPF member Dr Harsha De Silva revealed during the debate.

“So, who is supreme here?” he asked. “The Constitution states that Parliament has full control over public finance. There is no point holding conferences in various places. This Parliament is the only place where this crisis can be resolved. The President has no powers to draft laws.”

In a hard-hitting speech, the MP accused CBSL Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal and the Monetary Board of showing contempt to Parliament by not appearing before the CPF: “No one has the right to do that. Why do we even have a Parliament if this is the case? The Finance Minister does not come to Parliament to answer questions and neither does the CBSL Governor. What are we expected to do?”

Dr De Silva claimed he had information that a State bank was on the verge of default.

The Finance Minister acknowledged at the APC the previous day that they have a draft report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the financial situation. The Government did not admit this to Parliament and has refused to release its contents, National People’s Power (NPP) MP Vijitha Herath said.

“We are debating a tax bill today and yet the Finance Minister is not here,” he said. “Even though this country has undergone such a severe crisis, the Finance Minister has zero regard for Parliament.”

The Opposition was spreading false claims about the situation of State banks, State Minister of Fisheries Kanchana Wijesekara insisted: “When Opposition MPs claim that State banks are on the verge of default, it creates suspicion in the minds of the public. This impacts the stability of financial institutions. The negative impact is felt not just by the Government but the entire country.”

Tensions boiled over in the evening when Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa arrived in Parliament. Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella raised a point of order asking the Minister to explain the country’s financial situation and about the agreements the Government had allegedly entered into with India to obtain a line of credit. Instead, it was State Minister of Micro Finance and Business Development Shehan Semasinghe who made the concluding speech in the debate.

Mr Semasinghe accused the Opposition of trying to mislead the public regarding the Finance Minister’s contribution to Parliament. “There is a proper parliamentary procedure where you can raise a question under Standing Orders and the Minister can then respond properly. We have always responded to questions raised in the proper manner,” he said.

He blamed the former Yahapalana Government for precipitating the foreign exchange crisis. Elements of the SJB and their trade union representatives were now creating even more difficulties for the people by stating that the country only had fuel reserves for a limited number of days. This in turn creates panic and leads to long queues and more shortages, he claimed.

“They are now trying to target the State bank system, but remember that such low level tactics will only hurt the people more,” he added.

Parliament will reconvene at 10 a.m. on April 5.