The government has removed its pledge to eliminate the pensions and special benefits of retired presidents and their families from the action plan of the Ministry of Justice and National Integration. This revelation comes from a document obtained through the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The policy shift follows a March circular issued by the secretary to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, which directed ministries to align their frameworks with the National People’s Power election manifesto. While an annex detailing finalized benchmarks was not publicly released, The Sunday Times acquired it via an RTI request to the Presidential Secretariat.
Within the Justice Ministry’s proposals, the commitment to “abolish pensions and special privileges given to retired presidents and their families” was marked as “accepted” for deletion. Similarly, a pledge to “safeguard the voting rights of persons migrating for jobs within and outside the country” has also been removed.
Interestingly, the action plan retains the commitment to “abolish the executive presidency and to appoint a president without executive powers by the parliament”.
Earlier reports indicated that a committee appointed by President Dissanayake identified constitutional obstacles to cutting presidential privileges. Articles 36(2) and 36(4) of the Constitution grant presidents salaries, allowances, and pensions determined by Parliament, with limitations on retrospective changes or reductions.
