According to parliamentary sources, only 5 members have officially resigned from the Public Business Committee or COPE Committee.
Dylan Perera, Duminda Dissanayake, Iran Wickramaratne, S. M. The sources further state that only MLAs Marikkar and Professor Charita Herath have submitted their resignation letters.
Apart from this, MPs Anura Dissanayake, Wasantha Yapa Bandara, Shanakyan Rasamanikkam, Dayasiri Jayasekara, Gamini Valeboda and Hesha Withanage have also announced their resignation from the COPE Committee in Parliament, but the relevant written notice has not been given yet.
Parliament points out that resignations are not valid until notified in writing. They resigned in this way protesting the appointment of Podujana Peramuna MP Rohitha Abeygunawardena as the chairman of the COP committee.
According to the report, the opposition leader’s office has been informed to appoint new members to replace those members who submitted their resignations, but so far no response has been received.
The COPE committee consists of 31 members, 19 representing the government and 12 representing the opposition.