Minister prepared to face independent inquiry

Alleged corruption charges in the COPE report :

Rodney Martinesz and Ranil Wijayapala

KOTTE: Public Administration and Home Affairs Minister Karu Jayasuriya yesterday said that he was prepared to face an independent inquiry into any corruption charges against him allegedly contained in the COPE report, submitted by Wijedasa Rajapaksa.

Minister Jayasuriya said this when several opposition MPs raised questions from the speaker as to why Parliament is delaying the issue of the hansard report on the debate on the COPE report, they charged that Parliament was being pressed by certain persons to suppress the report.

Minister Jayasuriya said he as the Minister in charge of Power and Energy during the relevant period of the COPE report would request an independent inquiry on those corruption charges, so that wrongdoers could be exposed.

The Minister also supported the suggestion made by Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to appoint a Parliament Select Committee to look into all corruption charges in State institutions as mentioned in the COPE report.

Minister Jayasuriya said he will raise both his hands in support of Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe's proposal to have a Parliament select committee to look into those allegations.

Speaking on certain views expressed by several MPs on the COPE report submitted by COPE Chairman Wijedasa Rajapaksa, Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the COPE report had not been subjected to any time frame.

This has been the case with all reports submitted to the Parliament earlier.

"It is good if we could give a time frame to cover the period of the malpractices which had occurred in future.

"But the report submitted by MP Wijedasa Rajapaksa has been compiled according to the frame work of the mandate given to COPE", Wickremesinghe added.