Constitutional Council Rejects President Anura's Latest Auditor General Nominee

The Constitutional Council has rejected another nomination put forward by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake for appointment as the country's next Auditor General. The notable aspect is that, once again, the name of an individual with a military background has been rejected.

Accordingly, with the rejection of Mr. O.R. Rajasinghe's name, it is reported that all four nominations submitted by the President to the Constitutional Council for the appointment of a permanent or acting Auditor General over the past eight months have been rejected by the Council.

It is stated that the National Audit Office's daily operations have been severely hampered due to the absence of an acting Auditor General for approximately the past two weeks.

Mr. Rajasinghe is currently an officer serving in the Sri Lanka Army and a member of the Army Audit Division. Critics argue that appointing an individual with a military background and discipline to the Auditor General's Department poses a serious threat to its independence.

Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya presented Mr. Rajasinghe's name to the Constitutional Council meeting held last Wednesday, chaired by Speaker Jagath Wickramarathne. Only four members voted in favor of this nomination, while five voted against it.

Among those who voted against the nomination were all three civil society members, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Member of Parliament Ajith P. Perera. Prime Minister Amarasuriya, Leader of the House Bimal Rathnayake, and Members of Parliament M. Adambawa and S. Sridharan voted in favor of the nomination.

Following the retirement of Auditor General W.P.C. Wickramarathne, the President initially proposed the name of H.T.P. Chandana, an audit officer at the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, for the position. However, the Constitutional Council rejected that nomination.

Following that rejection, Dharmapala Gammanpila, then the most senior officer at the National Audit Office, had to be appointed as the acting Auditor General. After six months, when the proposal to extend his tenure was also rejected by the Constitutional Council, the name of Senior Deputy Auditor General L.S.P. Jayarathne was put forward for the acting Auditor General position, but her name was also rejected by the Constitutional Council.

There is suspicion that the President has a strong desire to appoint an Auditor General who will not independently expose government issues, despite the Auditor General's Department possessing the capability and authority to reveal government inefficiencies and losses.

As the evaluation of the National People's Power government's performance will become the Auditor General's responsibility for the first time next year, the failure to reach an agreement on this position and the strong pressure exerted in such a context have become a symbol of the government's intense fear of being audited.