{"id":164836,"date":"2016-07-06T10:28:21","date_gmt":"2016-07-06T04:58:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=164836"},"modified":"2016-07-11T13:52:30","modified_gmt":"2016-07-11T08:22:30","slug":"cope-in-quandary-as-unp-mps-attempt-to-protect-ex-central-bank-chief-arjuna-mahendran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/cope-in-quandary-as-unp-mps-attempt-to-protect-ex-central-bank-chief-arjuna-mahendran\/","title":{"rendered":"COPE In Quandary, As UNP MPs Attempt To Protect Ex-Central Bank Chief Arjuna Mahendran"},"content":{"rendered":"

The independence of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE<\/span><\/a>) maybe in jeopardy due to clandestine moves by the United National Party (UNP) to thwart any attempts to take action against ex-Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Sunil<\/a>

Sunil Handunneththi – COPE Chairman<\/p><\/div>\n

During a crucial meeting on Tuesday to discuss the Auditor General\u2019s Report on the controversial Treasury Bond transactions, UNP MPs who are members of COPE had said that they could not accept the AG\u2019s report, and it needed to be referred to an independent expert for an independent opinion.<\/p>\n

During the meeting, the UNP MPs had continued to protect Mahendran, which resulted in a tense situation at the meeting. \u201cThe UNP MPs had insisted that Mahendran was not to be blamed for the loss the State incurred due to the controversial transaction,\u201d sources said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, it is also learnt that the UNP is attempting to bring in Minister of International Trade Sujeewa Senasinghe<\/span><\/a> as a COPE member to further help strengthen the UNP team who are trying to protect Mahendran.<\/p>\n

\u201cUNP MP M. Velu Kumar has tendered his resignation, so the UNP can bring in Senasinghe,\u201d sources said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, COPE has ordered Mahendran and members of the Monetary Board to appear for an inquiry this week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":164482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2186,1,6969,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-164836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-featured-news","category-news","category-popular-stories","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nCOPE In Quandary, As UNP MPs Attempt To Protect Ex-Central Bank Chief Arjuna Mahendran - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/cope-in-quandary-as-unp-mps-attempt-to-protect-ex-central-bank-chief-arjuna-mahendran\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"COPE In Quandary, As UNP MPs Attempt To Protect Ex-Central Bank Chief Arjuna Mahendran - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/cope-in-quandary-as-unp-mps-attempt-to-protect-ex-central-bank-chief-arjuna-mahendran\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-07-06T04:58:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-07-11T08:22:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Sunil-Handunneththi.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"209\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/cope-in-quandary-as-unp-mps-attempt-to-protect-ex-central-bank-chief-arjuna-mahendran\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/cope-in-quandary-as-unp-mps-attempt-to-protect-ex-central-bank-chief-arjuna-mahendran\/\",\"name\":\"COPE In Quandary, As UNP MPs Attempt To Protect Ex-Central Bank Chief Arjuna Mahendran - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/cope-in-quandary-as-unp-mps-attempt-to-protect-ex-central-bank-chief-arjuna-mahendran\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/cope-in-quandary-as-unp-mps-attempt-to-protect-ex-central-bank-chief-arjuna-mahendran\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Sunil-Handunneththi.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-06T04:58:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-07-11T08:22:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/cope-in-quandary-as-unp-mps-attempt-to-protect-ex-central-bank-chief-arjuna-mahendran\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/cope-in-quandary-as-unp-mps-attempt-to-protect-ex-central-bank-chief-arjuna-mahendran\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/cope-in-quandary-as-unp-mps-attempt-to-protect-ex-central-bank-chief-arjuna-mahendran\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Sunil-Handunneththi.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Sunil-Handunneththi.jpg\",\"width\":200,\"height\":209,\"caption\":\"Sunil Handunneththi - COPE Chairman\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/cope-in-quandary-as-unp-mps-attempt-to-protect-ex-central-bank-chief-arjuna-mahendran\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"COPE In Quandary, As UNP MPs Attempt To Protect Ex-Central Bank Chief Arjuna Mahendran\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\",\"name\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"COPE In Quandary, As UNP MPs Attempt To Protect Ex-Central Bank Chief Arjuna Mahendran - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/cope-in-quandary-as-unp-mps-attempt-to-protect-ex-central-bank-chief-arjuna-mahendran\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"COPE In Quandary, As UNP MPs Attempt To Protect Ex-Central Bank Chief Arjuna Mahendran - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/cope-in-quandary-as-unp-mps-attempt-to-protect-ex-central-bank-chief-arjuna-mahendran\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2016-07-06T04:58:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-07-11T08:22:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":200,"height":209,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Sunil-Handunneththi.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/cope-in-quandary-as-unp-mps-attempt-to-protect-ex-central-bank-chief-arjuna-mahendran\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/cope-in-quandary-as-unp-mps-attempt-to-protect-ex-central-bank-chief-arjuna-mahendran\/","name":"COPE In Quandary, As UNP MPs Attempt To Protect Ex-Central Bank Chief Arjuna Mahendran - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/cope-in-quandary-as-unp-mps-attempt-to-protect-ex-central-bank-chief-arjuna-mahendran\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/cope-in-quandary-as-unp-mps-attempt-to-protect-ex-central-bank-chief-arjuna-mahendran\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Sunil-Handunneththi.jpg","datePublished":"2016-07-06T04:58:21+00:00","dateModified":"2016-07-11T08:22:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/cope-in-quandary-as-unp-mps-attempt-to-protect-ex-central-bank-chief-arjuna-mahendran\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/cope-in-quandary-as-unp-mps-attempt-to-protect-ex-central-bank-chief-arjuna-mahendran\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/cope-in-quandary-as-unp-mps-attempt-to-protect-ex-central-bank-chief-arjuna-mahendran\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Sunil-Handunneththi.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Sunil-Handunneththi.jpg","width":200,"height":209,"caption":"Sunil Handunneththi - COPE Chairman"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/cope-in-quandary-as-unp-mps-attempt-to-protect-ex-central-bank-chief-arjuna-mahendran\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"COPE In Quandary, As UNP MPs Attempt To Protect Ex-Central Bank Chief Arjuna Mahendran"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3","name":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Sunil-Handunneththi.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164836"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164836\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":164838,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164836\/revisions\/164838"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}