News
New body will hold MPs accountable for misconduct
View(s):- Provision to expel any member found guilty; registry to record conflict of interest
By Sandun Jayawardana
A proposed Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) will have powers to expel MPs found guilty of serious acts of misconduct, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe told the Sunday Times yesterday.
The body will be set up under a new Parliamentary Standards Bill that is now being worked on by the government. A joint proposal presented by Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and Justice Minister Rajapakshe to obtain the views of the Speaker and party leaders regarding the preliminary draft of the bill was approved by the Cabinet on Monday.
The bill’s preliminary draft has been worked out by a committee appointed by President Ranil Wickremesinghe. The committee is headed by former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya.
The proposed IPSA will ensure that there are serious consequences for MPs who violate the Code of Conduct for MPs, Mr. Rajapakshe said.
“At present, there is not much that can be done for serious misconduct on the part of MPs. This new body will change that. It could even lead to MPs found guilty of misconduct being expelled and losing their parliamentary seat,” he revealed.
The minister said that under the proposed bill, a “Registry of Members’ Financial Interests” would be maintained, and MPs would be required to declare any conflicts of interest.
The key objectives of the proposed bill would be to ensure the credibility, accountability, and professionalism of MPs, thereby enhancing public trust in Parliament, he said.
The proposed IPSA will act as an independent regulatory model and will be entrusted with the following duties and functions: * Determining and reviewing the remuneration, allowances and amenities of MPs;
* Implementing and regulating the Code of Conduct for MPs;
* Taking disciplinary action against MPs after an inquiry by the Parliamentary Committee on Ethics and * Privileges, subject to the approval of Parliament;
* Maintaining the “Registry of Members’ Financial Interests”.
As the Cabinet has now approved the joint proposal, the preliminary draft bill will be submitted to the Speaker and all party leaders to obtain their views. “We want to have a dialogue with them and obtain their views, as this is not something we want to do on our own,” the minister said.
Once their views and suggestions are obtained, the Legal Draftsman will be instructed to prepare a draft bill. Thereafter, the draft will be forwarded to the Attorney General to obtain a certificate of constitutionality for the purpose of tabling it in Parliament.
Consideration of an IPSA is being done against the backdrop of two serious incidents of indiscipline among MPs during the last session of Parliament.
In the first incident, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Gampaha District MP Ajith Mannapperuma was suspended from Parliament for four weeks for attempting to grab the Mace after coming down to the Well of the House during a heated argument.
A committee headed by Deputy Speaker Ajith Rajapakshe is probing the second incident, where State Minister Diana Gamage was allegedly manhandled during a heated argument in Parliament’s lobby with SJB MPs Sujith Sanjaya Perera and Rohana Bandara.
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