The Lankan parliament took a back seat on matters connected to public finance for years
By P.K.Balachandran
The leader of the opposition United National Party (UNP) and former Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, told parliament on Friday that the House should take full charge of public finance as per Article 148 of the constitution because the cabinet has not been handling it properly.
The cabinet has failed to put the finances of the country in order, which is why there is an acute economic crisis in Sri Lanka, he reasoned.
Asked why Wickremesinghe should make this demand when, according to the constitution, public finance is the exclusive preserve of parliament, Tamil National Alliance MP M.A.Sumanthiran said that over the years the Executive has eroded the role of parliament byvarious means and subterfuges.
This has been one of the undesirable by-products of the Executive Presidential system which has diluted the powers of parliament and stacked humongous powers in the hands of the Executive President, Sumanthiran said.
For example, it is accepted that parliamentary committees have to be headed by opposition MPs, but there have been cases in which ruling party MPs have headed committees.”SarathAmunugama was a minister when he headed the Committee on Public Enterprises,” the Jaffna district MP recalled.
And there was a time when a President was also Finance Minister (Chandrika Kumaratunga).The principle of separation of powers, essential for democratic functioning, was blatantly violated.
The constitution, on the other hand, has very clearly stated that public finance is the exclusive preserve of parliament, (even under the Executive Presidential system with a directly elected President).Article 148 is explicit on this matter.
Article 149 says that all revenue will go into the Consolidated Fund (CF) and parliamentary sanction is needed for the use of the CF. Article150 says that parliament will have to pass specific resolutions for the use of the funds.The purpose of drawing from the fund has to be specified and voted upon.
If parliament had been dissolved, the President can handle public finance, but only for three months.
Even the use of the Contingency Fund for emergency use has to be authorized by parliament as soon as possible.
The constitution envisages a critical role for parliament in the making and authorization of the country’s annual budget. If the budget is defeated in parliament, the cabinet has to resign. This is the reason why the process of makingthe budget is long and intricate with many checks en–route.
After the First Reading of the budget any citizen can go to court challenging the constitutionality of any provision but within seven days.
The Second Reading of the Appropriation bill is the budget speech.
The Appropriation bill is then referred to a Committee of the Whole House. This is the Committee Stage or Third Reading. This can last for a maximum of 22 days. All heads of expenditure are discussed and amendments suggested. Then all heads are passed together with or without amendments.
If the Appropriation bill is defeated, the cabinet will have to resign. The President begins to handle the finances but only till the next government is formed.
