The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) should expedite its inquiries into allegations against Speaker of Parliament Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne, and the Speaker should not remain in office while they proceed, the Chairman of the Doctors’ Trade Union Alliance for Medical and Civil Rights, Dr. Chamal Sanjeewa, has said.
He made the remarks after submitting his own complaint to the Commission, the Daily Mirror reported.
The conflict-of-interest argument
Sanjeewa’s case does not rest on the underlying allegations but on the offices the Speaker holds. As Speaker, Wickramaratne also chairs the Constitutional Council, the body that makes appointments to the independent commissions — CIABOC among them.
Sanjeewa argued that a person under investigation should not hold a position with responsibilities that could bear on that investigation, and that under the Anti-Corruption Act and parliamentary privileges, steps should be considered to prevent anyone under inquiry from influencing officials, witnesses or connected matters. On that basis, he said, the Speaker should step aside so any investigation involving him can be conducted independently.
He also pointed to statements made in Parliament by MP Dayasiri Jayasekara, claiming the Speaker had asked the Bribery Commission to postpone investigations concerning him.
The existing complaints
CIABOC has reportedly indicated it will investigate the allegations following complaints from a former Deputy Secretary General of Parliament and several opposition MPs. That refers to the file already open against the Speaker following a complaint by Chaminda Kularatne, whom Wickramaratne dismissed in January over alleged irregularities in his appointment as Deputy Secretary General and Chief of Staff. Kularatne complained to the Commission in February, and CIABOC opened probes into both men.
The demand that the Speaker temporarily vacate the Constitutional Council chair has been made before by opposition MPs. The NPP’s position has been that there is no need for him to step down, and that CIABOC is free to investigate him while he remains in office.
A note on the name
The Daily Mirror’s report gives the Speaker’s name as “Dr. Jagath Wickramanayake.” Every other record — Parliament’s own, and the earlier reporting on the Kularatne complaint — has it as Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne, which is the form used here.
Not reported
The report does not say what Sanjeewa’s own complaint alleges, or whether it covers the same matters as Kularatne’s. It does not say when it was submitted, whether CIABOC has acknowledged it, how many complaints are now on file, or what stage any of the investigations has reached. It carries no response from the Speaker’s office, from CIABOC or from the NPP.
This report is single-source. A search across NewsFirst, Hiru News, the Island, Daily FT, Colombo Gazette and EconomyNext found extensive earlier coverage of the Kularatne complaint but nothing on the doctors’ union submission; Ada Derana was unreachable behind a CloudFront block.
