Majority of members didn’t accept payment to draft new Constitution says former Secretary

Unfortunate that a ‘holistic’ Constitution has been ignored

The Secretary of the Romesh de Silva Committee that was appointed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to draft a new Constitution for Sri Lanka has responded to the Sunday Times news item in its issue of November 13 on the front page titled ‘Millions spent on 9-member committee appointed to draft new Constitution’.

The news item quoted from the Auditor General’s report that found the Committee had been made available Rs. 158 million on drafting a new Constitution and didn’t keep to timelines nor government procurement procedures. In making its opinion the report stated that “preparation of time frame or an estimate for costs had not been made even by the date of audit on 27th December last year.”

Committee Secretary (formerly) Kaushalya Molligoda states; “The majority of the members of the Committee opted not to accept any payment whatsoever despite the State offering an honorarium in addition to travel and attendant expenses, where applicable.

“The payments included an allowance for the Secretary, allowances for Research Officers and an honorarium to some of the Members (at Rs. 25,000 each per day attended). The Research Assistants were paid Rs.80,000/- [full time] and 40,000/- [part time] per month. The rest of the expenses were paid directly by the Government to the BMICH where a majority of the meetings were held.

“As per the Article published, the Cabinet had allocated Rs.158 Million. The Committee was not privy to a breakdown of the actual amounts spent out of this allocation. Unfortunately, as the article too has not given such a breakdown, it conveys the impression that the total allocation was spent by the members which is far from the truth.

“In fact, expenses for traveling and accommodation, were borne by a majority of the members personally. A case in point is when meeting the Venerable Mahanayakes to obtain their views.

“It should be obvious that the major expenses would have been for the payments made for halls at the BMICH when the Committee met with delegations. The Committee was obliged to meet at the BMICH as per Government direction, and Committee meetings were held at a room outside the main building to save expense. Though the Committee did not ask for any room for its deliberations, it was allocated 5 rooms out of which 4 were returned, leaving only one till the end of its term. It will be appreciated that the payments were a transfer of funds from one Government institution to another.

“Thus it is hurtful when the impression is given that millions have been spent on the Committee. As for the time frame, the Committee was appointed in October 2020 and met immediately thereafter.

“The Constitution could have been drafted in a matter of months, if it was to only contain the views of the Committee. However the draft Constitution had to reflect the views of the Country. Thus, the views of the public were sought and time given for response. There were approximately 840 lengthy written Memoranda which had to be studied.

“The Committee met all Political Parties represented in Parliament save the SJB which refused to present their views.

( The Secretary gives a list of individuals and organizations they met. The list is available on our website www.sundaytimes.lk)

The Secretary adds; “Then unfortunately there was the outbreak of the pandemic which slowed the work of the Committee. The Committee report was ready in December 2021 (which was just a year after the appointment). However the report and the draft Constitution had to be sent to the Legal Draftsman’s Department for inter alia translation.

“The draft Constitution was handed over to the then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in April 2022 and with his consent handed over to inter alia the four Venerable Mahanayaka Theros, the Catholic Bishop’s Conference, Right Rev. Bishop Rodrigo, Rev. Ebenezer Joseph and other religious dignitaries. It was also handed over to Hon. Sajith Premadasa (Leader of the Opposition), Hon. R. Sampanthan, Hon. Wigneswaran,

Hon. Ranil Wickremasinghe [as he then was] and Hon. Wijedasa Rajapakse, Minister of Justice, among others.

“It is indeed unfortunate that the draft Constitution was not deliberated upon. It is a holistic Constitution which deals with and reflects the views of the People of this country and provides solutions to a number of issues.

“The Committee is willing to present the Constitution to a SubCommittee of Parliament or to the Cabinet if called upon, or to the public.

NEWS EDITOR’S NOTE: The news item was based entirely on the Auditor General’s findings on the expenditure incurred by this Committee and its accounting practices. Rs. 158 million was indeed expended on this exercise. While the news item contained a breakdown of the expenditure, the Auditor General’s findings are also available on www.sundaytimes.lk

It is indeed unfortunate that the draft Constitution was not deliberated upon. It is a holistic Constitution which deals with and reflects the views of the People of this country and provides solutions to a number of issues