Sri Lanka abolishes privileges for former Presidents, Mahinda Rajapaksa to vacate official residence

Parliament abolished the privileges of former presidents Sri Lanka’s Parliament on Wednesday passed a law with an overwhelming majority that abolishes the privileges given to former presidents and their widows.

Colombo: Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to leave government residence Colombo. Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is now going to leave his official government residence. This decision has been taken after the new law passed in the Sri Lankan Parliament, which has abolished the privileges given to former presidents. Rajapaksa's official residence is in Cinnamon Garden, a prominent area of ​​​​Collumbo, where he was living since 2015. Mahinda Rajapaksa was the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015 and apart from this, he has also been the Prime Minister from 2004-2005 and 2019-2022.

Parliament abolished the privileges of former presidents Sri Lanka's Parliament on Wednesday passed a law with an overwhelming majority that abolishes the privileges given to former presidents and their widows. Under this law, former presidents will no longer get government residence, security and other government facilities. This bill has also been approved by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, which made this law applicable. However, this law was opposed by the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party, but their efforts were futile.

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Government Facilities Will Now End

There are currently five former presidents alive in Sri Lanka, three of whom were still taking advantage of the facilities provided by the government. All these facilities will end after the new law comes into force. This will end the government security, residence and other benefits of former presidents.

Mahinda Rajapaksa's Private Residence In Tamgale

Mahinda Rajapaksa's private house is located in Tamgale, which is about 190 km south of Colombo. This is the same place from where he started his political journey in 1970. Now he will leave his official residence and leave for the same private house.

During the massive public movement in Sri Lanka in the year 2022, Mahinda Rajapaksa's younger brother and then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had to step down. During that time, the protesters tried to occupy both Mahinda's official and private residence, but they could not succeed.

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This move to end privileges for former presidents is being considered a part of Sri Lanka's political and social change. This law has brought a big change in the government facilities available to former presidents. Other former presidents including Mahinda Rajapaksa will now have to live a private life away from their government facilities. This change will bring new challenges and changes in the political system of Sri Lanka.