The name of Hon. Lasantha Alagiyawanna was proposed by Hon. Prasanna Ranaweera and was seconded by Hon. (Dr.) Suren Raghavan.
The name of Hon. Kabir Hashim, Member of Parliament for the position of Chair of COPA was proposed by Hon. Ashok Abeysinghe, and was seconded by Hon. Mano Ganesan. Hon. Lasantha Alagiyawanna received 14 votes whilst Hon. Kabir Hashim received 07 votes and accordingly, was elected as the chair.
The Chair stated that he has gained a lot of experience by representing a number of Committees since 2004, and that he hopes to fulfill his duties independently for the country regardless of party differences within the Committee and expects the support of all committee members in order to do so.
Furthermore, the Chair pointed out that the Committee on Public Accounts is the oldest Committee in the history of Parliament and will complete 100 years in October 2023.
As the Committee on Public Accounts supervise the process following the passing of the budget by the Parliament, on behalf of the Parliament which has control over the country's finances, Hon. Lasantha Alagiyawanna stated that this Committee has the same responsibility as the House.
State Ministers Hon. Mohan Priyadarshan De Silva, Hon. Prasanna Ranaweera, Hon. Kader Mastan, Hon. (Dr.) Suren Raghavan, Hon. (Ms.) Diana Gamage, Hon. Chamara Sampath Dasanayake along with other Members of Parliament Hon. S. B. Dissanayake, Hon. Wajira Abeywardana, Hon. A. L. M. Athaullah, Hon. Kabir Hashim, Hon. Mano Ganesan, Hon. (Dr.) Sarath Weerasekera, Hon. Niroshan Perera, Hon. J. C. Alawathuwala, Hon. Vadivel Suresh, Hon. Ashok Abeysinghe, Hon. Jayantha Ketagoda, Hon. Hector Appuhamy, Hon. (Dr.) Major Pradeep Undugoda, Hon. Isuru Dodangoda, Hon. Sahan Pradeep Withana and D. Weerasinghe were present at the Committee meeting held.
