Colombo, February 21 The Sri Lankan government has issued a gazette to formally enact the Parliamentary Pensions (Repeal) Act, following its passage by parliament with a substantial majority on Tuesday. This fulfills a key campaign promise made by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
In Sri Lanka, a member of parliament was entitled to a pension after serving a five-year term.
On Tuesday, lawmakers passed the bill with 154 votes in favor out of a total of 225 members, with only two votes against. The remaining legislators were not present during the vote.
The gazette was dated Friday. On February 6, the Supreme Court had ruled that the Parliamentary Pensions (Repeal) Bill could be passed in parliament with a simple majority.
The main objective of the bill was to repeal the Parliamentary Pensions Law No. 1 of 1977, which had established a lifetime, non-contributory pension for individuals who had ceased to be members of parliament.
The move caused outrage among former parliamentarians, who sought intervention from the Supreme Court but were unsuccessful in preventing its enactment.
The repeal of the 1977 pensions law is one of the popular reformist pledges made by the NPP government, referring to these pensions as "unjustified political benefits."
These savings are intended to fund other essential public services.
With the issuance of the gazette, the payment of pensions to parliamentarians will cease.
