Sri Lanka scraps pension for lawmakers

KARACHI, Pakistan

Sri Lankan lawmakers have voted to scrap their pensions, fulfilling a key campaign promise by the country’s left-leaning government.

The bill was approved late Tuesday in the 225-member parliament, elected in 2024, with 154 votes in favor and two against, according to an official statement by the Sri Lankan parliament.

Under previous rules, lawmakers aged over 65 were entitled to a pension after serving a five-year term. The new law ends pension benefits for current and former legislators.

The decision comes months after the government withdrew housing, vehicles and thousands of security personnel assigned to former presidents as part of broader austerity measures.

The left-wing administration led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake came to power in 2024 following youth-led mass protests that forced the resignation of then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa amid the country’s economic crisis.

KARACHI, Pakistan

Sri Lankan lawmakers have voted to scrap their pensions, fulfilling a key campaign promise by the country’s left-leaning government.

The bill was approved late Tuesday in the 225-member parliament, elected in 2024, with 154 votes in favor and two against, according to an official statement by the Sri Lankan parliament.

Under previous rules, lawmakers aged over 65 were entitled to a pension after serving a five-year term. The new law ends pension benefits for current and former legislators.

The decision comes months after the government withdrew housing, vehicles and thousands of security personnel assigned to former presidents as part of broader austerity measures.