Karu Jayasuriya urges president to reconsider proposal to abolish MPs’ pensions

FORMER Speaker of Parliament Karu Jayasuriya has written to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, urging him to reconsider the proposed abolition of pensions for Members of Parliament, warning that such a move could have far-reaching consequences for democratic representation in Sri Lanka.

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In a letter sent in his capacity as Patron of the Former Parliamentarians’ Caucus, Jayasuriya reflected on the country’s political evolution since independence.

He noted that in the early years after 1948, politics was largely dominated by an educated and affluent elite, but a significant social transformation after 1956 opened the doors of Parliament to ordinary citizens and individuals from modest backgrounds.