Treasury Secretary Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma will appear before the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) at 1:00 pm on Thursday, reversing the position he communicated in writing the day before, Ada Derana and Newswire reported.
Suriyapperuma will be accompanied by several senior Finance Ministry officials when he testifies on the USD 2.5 million cyber theft from the Treasury, the outlets said. The reversal lands hours after the Free Lawyers Association warned that COPF Chairman Dr. Harsha de Silva had parliamentary mechanisms available to compel attendance if the Secretary refused to appear.
In a midday post on X, however, de Silva said he had not been formally notified of the change. “I do not know, and I have not been informed. However, I did not accept his refusal to be present today and request for another day. I have written to him and told him that the Committee will meet as planned,” the COPF Chairman wrote. The apparent procedural gap — with the Secretary’s reported attendance reaching the Committee through media rather than direct correspondence — suggests the reversal may have been driven by external pressure rather than ordinary parliamentary coordination.
In a letter delivered Wednesday, Suriyapperuma had informed the committee he could not attend the scheduled Thursday session and asked for a postponement to a date after May 5, citing a planned presidential statement to Parliament on the matter. Deputy Minister Kaushalya Ariyarathne later framed the request as a rescheduling rather than a refusal.
The COPF convened on April 28 and unanimously decided to summon the Secretary and senior Finance Ministry officials, alongside the Central Bank Governor, to explain how USD 2.5 million from a USD 22.9 million foreign debt repayment was diverted by fraudsters who breached Finance Ministry computer systems. Cabinet Spokesman Nalinda Jayatissa has confirmed the payment failed to reach its intended recipient.
De Silva told the committee on Tuesday that “Parliament has the full authority over public finance” and there was “no reason for the officials not to appear before the committee.” He has publicly disputed the government’s “hacker” framing for the loss.
The 1pm hearing intersects with multiple parallel accountability tracks: a Magistrate’s Court has imposed travel bans on five interdicted officials, the Opposition has demanded a Parliamentary Select Committee, and the CID continues a criminal investigation.
Sources: Ada Derana, Newswire (reversal), Newswire (Harsha unaware), NewsFirst.
