Colombo. Sri Lankan MPs on Tuesday voted with an overwhelming majority in favor of canceling their pensions. This bold step has been taken to fulfill a key election promise made by the Sri Lankan government amid the country’s severe economic crisis and growing public anger. There was overwhelming consensus regarding this bill in the 225-member Sri Lankan Parliament.
MPs passed the bill by 154 votes in the 225-member House, while only two votes were cast against it. The remaining MLAs remained absent during voting. Earlier, MPs in Sri Lanka were entitled to receive pension after completing their five-year tenure. Under the new law, people who are already receiving pension or are eligible for it will also not be paid pension.
President Anura Kumar Dissanayake, elected in the year 2024, had promised to abolish the pension related provision during his election campaign. Similarly, the Dissanayake government ended the facilities given to former presidents in September on public demand.
These included government grants for housing, allowances, pensions and transportation. Law Minister Harshana Nanayakkara, while introducing the pension bill in Parliament, said the election promise has been fulfilled and MPs have no moral right to receive pension at a time when the country is struggling to recover from its worst economic crisis. Sri Lanka had declared itself bankrupt in April 2022 with a debt of more than $83 billion. More than half of this debt is from foreign creditors.