Parliament is to start a ‘Register of Members’ Interests’ making it compulsory for all Members of Parliament to disclose information relating to their business relationships and financial interests including information of close family members.
The Code of Conduct for MPs adopted by Parliament on December 10 necessitates maintaining a Register of Members’ Interests by the Parliament Secretary-General to increase the public trust in Members. Assistant Secretary-General K.A.T.K. Jayathilake speaking to the Daily News yesterday said the work on the register would begin next year after the adoption of the revised set of Standing Orders now before the House.
As per the Code of Conduct, every Member should immediately after a general election disclose to Parliament “all relevant interests that a reasonable person might think could give rise to the perception of influencing behaviour between duties and responsibilities and the personal interests of such Member such as assets relating to land and property, shareholdings and gifts”.Any items received or donated by an MP are also required to be disclosed under this provision.
The register will be available for inspection by any member on request made to the Secretary-General.
The provisions of the Right to Information Act, No.12 of 2016 apply to publication of any information contained in the Register. The Code of Conduct also prevents any member voting in a division on a question relating to a matter other than public policy in which he has a financial interest.
The Code of Conduct also provides for the publication of information in the register and the amounts of expenditure of public funds used by each Member and the purposes for which such funds have been utilised as soon as practicable.
“These shall be published by Parliament in the most accessible means available such as Parliamentary website,” it states.
The provisions relating to the register also apply to the father, mother, spouse, daughter or son of the Member concerned.
The Committee on Ethics and Privileges can receive complaints on any incorrect or false information given to the register. The mandate of Parliament Privileges Committee will be expanded to include ‘ethics’ as of the revised set of Standing Orders.