• Sajith says they will also support amending Prezs’ Entitlements Act 

The main Parliamentary Opposition, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), is to support the Bills to abolish the pension for Parliamentarians, and amend the Presidents Entitlements Act, No. 4 of 1986. 

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake recently said that the Bills to abolish the pension for MPs and to amend the said Act would be presented to the Parliament soon.

When queried by The Daily Morning as to whether the SJB would support the move, the SJB and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa said that they would extend their support. He said: “Of course, we will support it.”

Delivering a statement in Parliament on 21 March, Dissanayake said: “When an MP is appointed as a minister, they receive both an MP’s salary and a minister’s salary. However, we have decided that ministers and deputy ministers will only receive the MP’s salary. In addition, they will receive a fuel allowance. We will also present the Bills to abolish the MPs’ pension and amend the said Act.”

Curtailing privileges granted to MPs, ministers, and ex-Presidents was one of the key promises that President Dissanayake and other National People's Power representatives made during the Presidential and Parliamentary (General) Election campaigns last year (2024). In October 2024, the Government appointed a committee to look into matter, and it was tasked with submitting a detailed report within two months with the suitable recommendations to limit the entitlements, allowances, and privileges granted and afforded in a rational manner, and their final report was handed over to the President recently.