A final report on the allowances, rights, and privileges of parliamentarians, ministers, and former presidents will be submitted in six weeks, according to the Director General of Legal Affairs at the Presidential Secretariat, Senior Advocate J. M. Wijebandara. The committee tasked with reviewing these entitlements has completed six weeks of the three-month period allocated for the task. Wijebandara clarified that decisions will be made based on the findings of the report.
While Wijebandara refrained from discussing the details of the report, he noted that it is still being prepared. It remains unclear whether the existing laws will need to be amended to implement the committee’s recommendations.
The review comes after President Anura Kumara Dissanayake announced in early November that ministers would no longer receive housing in Colombo, advocating for a more grassroots approach to governance. At a political rally in Matara, Dissanayake also mentioned that the new cabinet would consist of fewer than 25 ministers, with significant reductions in their privileges.
Following his assumption of office, Dissanayake has worked to return government vehicles previously allocated to former ministers and officials, emphasizing the need to reduce unnecessary expenditure by cutting down on vehicle allocations.
The committee to review government entitlements was established after the Cabinet approved a proposal from the Prime Minister. The committee is headed by retired Supreme Court Justice K.T. Chitrasiri, with retired ministry secretary D. Dissanayake and retired district secretary Jayantha C.T. Bulumulla as its members.
