By Skandha Gunasekara President Gotabaya Rajapaksa dissolved Parliament last Monday (2), just as he promised he would soon after assuming office. Apart from bringing to an end the first phase of the new President’s reign and triggering a general election, an interesting result of this decision was to make a large number of junior parliamentarians ineligible for a pension. Thus, a total of 66 junior parliamentarians who had entered Parliament for the first time have lost the opportunity to receive pensions for serving as parliamentarians. This resulted in accordance with a clause in the Parliamentary Pensions Law Act No. 1 of 1977, which states: “Any person who has served as a member of the legislature for a minimum period of five years in the aggregate shall be entitled to (a) monthly payment of a pension amounting to one-third of the substantive monthly allowance currently payable to a member of the national state assembly and a maximum of two-thirds of such substantive monthly allowance if he has served an aggregate period of 15 years or more as such (a) member.” According to Parliament sources, a member of Parliament (MP) is paid Rs. 54,285 per month. In addition, an MP is afforded an entertainment allowance of Rs. 1,000, a driver’s allowance of Rs. 3,500, a telephone allowance of Rs. 50,000, and a transport allowance of Rs. 10,000 for personal staff. As of 2013, the prime minister was paid a monthly salary of Rs. 71,500, while the speaker of Parliament received Rs. 68,500 and Cabinet ministers were paid Rs. 63,500 – the same as the salary of the leader of the opposition. According to the legislation, an MP who has completed a term of five years serving in Parliament receives one-third of his salary as the pensions. Subsequently, an MP would receive Rs. 18,095 as their pension while an MP who was a minister or the leader of the opposition would receive Rs. 21,166. A speaker who has completed five years would receive Rs. 22,833.50 and a prime minister who has completed the minimum period of five years to be eligible for the pension would receive Rs. 23,500. However, as a result of the President’s decision, a total of 66 MPs who entered Parliament for the first time in 2015 would not be entitled to receive their pensions due to President Rajapaksa dissolving Parliament after a period of only four years. Further, according to the Parliamentary Pensions Law, an MP who has served 15 years or more as a parliamentarian receives two-thirds of their salary received during that period. As such, an MP who has served 15 years or more would be entitled to a pension of Rs. 44,190, while a minister and the leader of the opposition who have served 15 years or more would receive Rs. 42,332. A speaker of Parliament who has served as an MP for 15 years or more would be afforded Rs. 25,666 as the pension, while a prime minister with 15 years or more in service would be given a pension of Rs. 47,000. When contacted, UNP backbencher parliamentarian Hesha Withanage told The Sunday Morning that while it was true that a number of MPs were losing their right to government pension, it was not a matter for them to dwell on. “The pension of a first-time MP is a small amount. It is not something to cry over. We are here in Parliament elected by our voters to serve the country and its people. Not to collect pensions,” he said. Currently, there are 254 politicians, 196 widows, and seven dependents of former MPs receiving pensions. Accordingly, this “small amount”, when paid to each MP who is to receive pensions per month, equals to Rs. 8,276,587 monthly expense for the Government. For one year, the amount equals to Rs. 99,211,044 while for a 10-year period, only the pension payment for these individuals would amount to almost Rs. 1 billion. MPs who lost their pensions United National Front (UNF) A. Hafiz A.A. Wijethunga Ananda Aluthgamage Aravindh Kumar Ashoka Priyantha Ashu Marasinghe Bandulal Bandaragama Chaminda Wijesiri Chandima Gamage Chathura Senaratne Daya Gamage Harshana Rajakaruna Hector Appuhamy Hesha Withanage Hirunika Premachandra Imran Maharoof Jayampathy Wickremeratne Karunarathna Paranawithana Kavinda Jayawardana Lakshman Wijemanne M. Navasi M. Salman Mayantha Dissanayake Mohamed Maharoof Muhammad Mansoor Mujibur Rahuman Nadaraja Thilakesh Nalaka Kolonne Nalin Bandara Rahuman Isthan Ranjith Aluwihare Rohini Kumari Wijerathna S. Velu Kumar S.M. Marikkar Sandith Samarasinghe Sanjaya Perera Sidney Jayarathne Sisira Kumara Abeysekara Thushara Indunil Amarasena Thusitha Wijeratne United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) Angajan Ramanathan Anuradha Jayaratne Kader Masthan D.V. Chanaka Indika Anuruddha Herath Kanchana Wijesekera Nimal Lanza Niroshan Premaratne Piyal Nishantha De Silva Prasanna Ranatunga Prasanna Ranaweera Sanath Nishantha Sarathi Dushmantha Sisira Jayakody Tharaka Balasuriya Udaya Gammanpila Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa -----------------