Sri Lanka slashes perks for former Presidents

Sri Lanka’s Parliament on Wednesday (September 10, 2025) voted to cut perks and privileges accorded to former presidents or their widows, as the ruling National People’s Power tries to keep its poll pledge of weeding out corruption and slashing excessive state expenditure.  

Passed with a two-thirds majority — that the ruling coalition enjoys — the vote repealed the Presidents’ Entitlements Act, a 1986 law that allowed provision of a residence or a monthly allowance, secretarial allowance, official transport, to a former President or the widow of a former President; and monthly pension paid to the widow of a former President.

It came a day after Parliamentary  Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne informed the House of the Supreme Court’s determination — half a dozen petitions sought to challenge the government’s move to repeal the law — that the President’s Entitlements (Repeal) Bill did not violate the Constitution, and that a simple majority would suffice to enact it. “We are repealing the 1986 Act to save taxpayers’ money,” Minister of Justice Harshana Nanayakkara told Parliament.

The law will be immediately applicable to Sri Lanka’s five living former presidents — Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Maithripala Sirisena, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and Ranil Wickremesinghe — and Hema Premadasa, wife of late Ranasinghe Premadasa. Local media reports said Mr. Mahinda would likely vacate his mansion soon.