Colombo — Sri Lanka’s parliament voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to abolish state-funded perks and facilities for former presidents, approving a measure that removes housing, allowances, pensions, transport facilities and an official office with staff for ex-heads of state and their widows.
The bill passed 151-1 while other members were absent, lawmakers said. The change applies to the nation’s five living former presidents and one presidential widow, and was presented as a response to popular demands voiced during recent public protests.
The move fulfilled an election pledge by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, a Marxist-leaning leader who took office last year after campaigning on a platform of curbing elite privileges and responding to public anger over the country’s worst economic crisis in modern history. Lawmakers said the measure eliminates all state-funded residential and support provisions that had been provided to former heads of state and their spouses.
The 2022 economic collapse prompted mass protests after the government announced it could not service its foreign debt. The crisis led to severe shortages of food, medicine, fuel and electricity and helped trigger demonstrations that forced then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee and resign. The political fallout continued in subsequent years and remained a focal point in debates over accountability and state spending.
The parliamentary vote came amid broader scrutiny of political figures tied to the crisis and to the handling of public funds. Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe — who succeeded Rajapaksa — was arrested in August over allegations of misusing public funds while in office and was granted bail on Aug. 27, authorities said. Lawmakers said the abolition of perks was intended to signal a new approach to public office and to align state privileges with public sentiment on austerity and anti-corruption.
Parliamentarians backing the bill described it as restoring equity to public spending, while critics outside the chamber raised questions about whether other measures to strengthen transparency and accountability would follow. The text of the legislation does not specify transitional arrangements or whether any benefits already paid will be reclaimed, and it was not immediately clear how quickly administrative steps to withdraw facilities would be implemented.
Lawmakers said the measure will now proceed through the remaining formalities required for enactment. Officials in the president’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on how the change will be operationalized or whether further measures targeting state entitlements will be proposed.