Sri Lanka to reassess privileges for presidents, ministers, and parliament members

Cabinet approval has been granted to review the entitlements, allowances, and privileges of Members of Parliament, Ministers, and former Presidents of Sri Lanka.

The government states that these include salaries, allowances, pensions, official residences, vehicles, staff, office equipment, and security personnel.

Providing these entitlements incurs a significant annual expense to the government, funded by public tax money.

The need to minimize this substantial expenditure burden within the current financial framework has been recognized.

To address this, a tripartite committee has been appointed to study the relevant facts and limit unnecessary expenditures and unreasonable entitlements on a logical basis.

This committee is tasked with submitting a detailed report with appropriate recommendations within two months, as proposed by Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya in her capacity as Minister of Justice, Public Administration, Provincial Councils, Local Government, and Labour.

This proposal was approved by the Cabinet.

While announcing the Cabinet decision, Minister Vijitha Herath stated that the committee has been appointed to study the existing directives and present a report.

The committee members are:

• Retired Supreme Court Judge K.T. Chitrasiri (Chairman)
• Retired Ministry Secretary D. Dissanayake
• Retired District Secretary Jayantha Bulumulla

Minister Vijitha Herath mentioned that the report prepared by this committee would be submitted to the Cabinet for further decision-making.