President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s nomination of H.T.P. Chandana, a board member of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, for the position of Auditor General, was rejected for the second time by the Constitutional Council yesterday (21st).
During the vote on the proposal, it received 3 votes in favor and 5 votes against. The President’s initial recommendation also failed to gain consensus in the Constitutional Council the day before, leading to yesterday’s reconvening to reconsider the matter.
Samagi Jana Balawegaya Member of Parliament Mujibur Rahuman alleged that H.T.P. Chandana, nominated by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake for the vacant Auditor General post, was junior to the President during their time at the University of Kelaniya. He argued that an individual with only approximately five years of experience as an audit director at the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation was unsuitable for the position.
Meanwhile, Member of Parliament Dr. Harsha de Silva stated that the government was attempting to appoint an external individual to the Auditor General’s post, despite the presence of the most senior official within the Auditor General’s Department. The Constitutional Council had also previously withheld its consent on a nominee from a private sector audit firm put forward by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leading to a postponement of the decision until yesterday.
The Joint Trade Union Alliance of the National Audit Office has strongly protested against the attempt to appoint an external individual instead of Dharmapala Gammanpila, the most senior official in the State Audit Service, to the post of Auditor General.
The Auditor General’s position has been vacant for 42 days since the retirement of the previous holder. Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe also faced a similar predicament during the appointment of Deshabandu Tennakoon as the Inspector General of Police.
