Govt. proposes to increase MPs’ sitting
allowance from Rs. 500 to Rs. 20,000 per day
by Dasun Edirisinghe-December 23, 2015, 12:00 pm
There has been a proposal to increase MPs’ allowance for attending parliamentary sessions from Rs. 500 to Rs. 20,000, according to highly placed sources.
The proposal had been made by the government to the House Committee, sources said.
MPs are currently paid Rs. 500 per sitting day, but some of them have demanded this amount be increased as it has remained static for many years whereas their expenses have increased manifold.
The JVP has opposed the proposed increase. JVP Propaganda Secretary MP Vijitha Herath told The Island that his party had handed over a letter to the House Committee against increasing the sitting allowance.
MP Herath said no final decision had been taken on the matter, but he was informed that discussions were underway to increase the sitting allowance from Rs. 500 to Rs. 15,000.
"We heard that the House Committee has discussed the matter," he said.
Asked whether his party was opposed to paying an additional allowance to parliamentarians for attending sessions in addition to their salaries, the Gampaha District MP said that the JVP was opposed to not only the sitting allowance, but also several other privileges including the pension scheme for MPs.
Herath said that they were also of the opinion that parliamentarians did not need a salary, but a small allowance.
A government MP told The Island on condition of anonymity that the sitting allowance should have been increased some years back.
Contacted for comment Minister of Parliamentary Reforms and Mass Media Gayantha Karunathilaka said his ministry had not been informed of such a decision so far.
Asked for his personal opinion on the alleged move to increase the sitting allowance, Karunathilake said that it didn’t matter to him whether it was increased or not as he was not dependent on it.
National Organiser of the Joint Opposition Dullas Alahapperuma said that he would not comment on it since there had been formal discussion on the issue.
"We have not been informed of such a discussion or decision," he said.
In October Speaker Karu Jayasuriya revealed in Parliament that a single day’s parliamentary sittings cost Sri Lankan taxpayer Rs. 4.6 million. The 225-member Parliament meets on eight days a month, but recently the government has proposed the number of days on which the House meets be increased.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Dec. 12 announced that the government was planning to increase the number of parliamentarians’ staff members from three to 18 each. The number of employees working for an MP would be increased in view of additional workload to be assigned to each MP under the government’s plan to strengthen the parliamentary system, he said. Currently, an MP is entitled to a private secretary, office assistant and a driver.
