Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who has been credibly accused of war crimes, has had to find a new home in Colombo after Parliament voted overwhelmingly to abolish the privileges, including state-funded official residences, provided to former heads of state, the Tamil Guardian reports.
The Presidents’ Privileges (Abolition) Bill was passed this week by a vote of 151 to 1, and Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne certified it as the Presidents’ Privileges (Abolition) Bill No. 18 of 2025.
The new law repeals the Presidents’ Privileges Act No. 4 of 1986 and abolishes allowances, transport facilities, secretarial assistance, and official residences for former presidents and their widows.
Mr. Rajapaksa, who resides in a large official residence on Wijerama Mawatha, will now have to vacate the property. Sources close to him confirmed that his supporters have begun looking for a new house in Colombo “with sufficient space for his public activities,” the report said.
According to current Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the monthly rental value of the former president’s official residence exceeded 4.6 million rupees. Mr. Dissanayake, who came to power on a promise to cut political privileges, argued that taxpayers could no longer fund such benefits.
Former presidents Maithripala Sirisena and Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga will also lose their official residences, while Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe already reside in private homes.
The bill was one of President Dissanayake’s election promises and was introduced in the wake of the wave of popular protests that followed Sri Lanka’s 2022 economic collapse. The crisis, which led to severe shortages of food, fuel, and medicine, forced Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down and also led to the breakup of the political camp once led by Mahinda Rajapaksa, the report said.
However, the law protects pension rights for former presidents but reallocates property currently in their use for state purposes.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE :- TAMIL GUARDIAN
