ECONOMYNEXT – Head of Sri Lanka’s Parliament Committee of Public Finance (CoPF) has raised serious concerns over delay in the appointment of an Auditor General and said such delay is undermining Parliament’s financial oversight.
Opposition legislator and the chairman of CoPF Harsha De Silva in a letter to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said the delay has serious implications.
The island nation’s Office of the Auditor General has been functioning without a head since December 7 after the president stopped extending the appointment of Acting Auditor General.
President Dissanayake’s recommendation for Auditor General has been rejected by the country’s Constitutional Council four times in the past since the last Auditor General retired.
The post has been vacant since April 2025 after former Auditor General W.P.C. Wickramaratne retired.
“At present, there is neither a substantive nor an acting Auditor General in the country, and consequently, the Audit Service Commission remains without a chairman,” De Silva wrote in his letter to the President.
“Given the prevailing circumstances of the country, the continuous absence of this constitutionally mandated post is a matter of serious concern.”
He pointed out that the Constitution says the parliament has the full control over public finance and the effective exercise of this control is constitutionally dependent on the continuous functioning of an independent audit mechanism.
The office of the Auditor General has to audit all State institutions and is mandated to report such audits to parliament.
“The absence of an auditor general disrupts this mandatory constitutional process,” De Silva said.
“Moreover, the oversight functions of the Committee of Public Accounts, and the Committee on the Public Enterprises ….are directly dependent on audit reports issued by the Auditor General. The continued vacancy therefore materially undermines parliament financial oversight.”
“As the Committee of Public Finance, ( CoPF) is responsible for the reviewing the budget and work programme of the National Audit Office, I consider it my duty, as a Chair of the CoPF, to urge the immediate appointment of the Auditor General.”
When asked about the delay, Cabinet Spokesman and Media Minister Nalinda Jayatissa said some members of the Constitutional Council, which is responsible to approve the appointment, have been rejecting the President’s recommendation without any justifications.
“The country really needs an Auditor General. That is why the President has presented the names of qualified persons and the Constitutional Council should take a decision on it,” Jayatissa told reporters on Tuesday.
But, he said, the names have been rejected without any justifications by some members including those three representing civil society. (Colombo/December 24/2025)