The establishment of the Public Finance Committee will provide the mechanism for a more vibrant and transparent financial system in the country in the future, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said yesterday.
He also said the introduction of the new system of Sectoral Oversight Committees will further strengthen Parliament.
The Premier made these observations at the opening ceremony of the Regional Meeting of Young Parliamentarians of the Asia-Pacific held in Colombo yesterday.
The Premier added that the power of public finance has not been enhanced in the past few years and Sri Lanka had to face numerous problems due to this fact.
“Sri Lanka is currently in a debt-trap as a result of actions carried out during the last five years especially concerning the control of public funds. Parliament was disregarded and weakened as was the tendency in the past, by the use of executive powers,” he added. The Prime Minister said the government was now in the process of changing this situation and strengthening Parliament.
This will include the introduction of Oversight Committees, which is already in practice in the US Congress and the EU Parliament. There will also be a Special Parliamentary Budget Office.
The mandate of the J R Jayewardene Centre will be expanded to include research and training for parliamentarians thereby forming a backup office to Parliament and core political training on the enactment of legislation, parliamentary conventions and procedures, ethics and good practice for new legislators. “The Oversight Committees will further strengthen public finance. It was proved during the last election that we need a new Constitution. We have moved a resolution in Parliament for converting the House into a Constitutional Assembly, marking the formal inauguration of the process of making a new Constitution. There is a Steering Committee which will send in the interim reports, and the Assembly which will debate. So once we have a final draft, we will send it to be passed by the Constitutional Assembly and send it to Parliament,” the Prime Minister.
In addition, measures have been taken to strengthen Parliament resources. Accordingly, new buildings will be established in Parliament. Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus has also set up to facilitate female MPs.
Speaker Karu Jayasuriya said the theme of this conference, ‘The role of young Parliamentarians in Advancing Inclusive and Peaceful Societies and Preventing Violent Extremism,’ is the most relevant and opportune topic as that is being unleashed each day in all parts of the world today. As a result, today’s world is replete with armed conflict, terrorism, poverty, hunger, displacement, the refugee problem, forces migration, political instability and social disintegration. Therefore, young parliamentarians have a significant role to play in this regard. This conference will explore ways in which young parliamentarians in the Asia-Pacific could cooperate and interact with each other to facilitate knowledge transfers on preventing violent extremism.
This will help them to prevent violent extremism in the region.
Inter-Parliamentary Union President Saber Chowdhury said young people must be firmly part of the formal political processes to effectively contribute to preventing violent extremism. Increasing youth participation in parliaments and the number of young MPs is both a way to harness the talents of youth to address extremism and its socio-economic drivers, and also an antidote to combat youth marginalization that leads to radicalization.
UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Sri Lanka Una McCauley said, “Empowered youth are the engine of the progress we all seek. Through our work, we continually remind that young people today are more connected, creative and informed than any previous generation.