Does the Parliamentary Pensions (Repeal) Act come into effect from the next parliament?

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Most of the time, current political events become a major topic on social media platforms. This is a fact-check we conducted on a post currently circulating on social media regarding the proposal to repeal the pensions of members of parliament, which was one of the main election promises of the National People’s Power.

Social Media Posts:

This circulated post states that “MP pension will also be abolished”, and explains that the abolition of the MP pension does not apply to the 159 members of the National People’s Power Party elected to Parliament this time, and that it will apply from the next parliament.

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Many people believing this information to be true had also shared the relevant post across Facebook.

Based on this post, we conducted a fact-checking investigation to determine whether the MP pension will, in fact, be abolished from the next parliamentary term.

Fact Check:

The bill to repeal the Parliamentary Pension Act No. 1 of 1977 was gazetted by the government on December 26 and presented to Parliament by the Minister of Justice and National Integration, Harshana Nanayakkara, on January 7. However, in such a context, social media posts are circulating stating that repealing the parliament pension will take effect from the next Parliament and that it will not be applied to the Members of the current Parliament.

However, none of the media reports published in this regard have mentioned such a fact. You can view those new reports from here, here, and here.

Is the Parliament Pensions (Repeal) Act not relevant to the current parliament?

The Bill to repeal the Parliamentary Pensions Act No. 1 of 1977 cleary states that, “any person who is entitled to receive a pension in terms of the provisions of the Parliamentary Pensions Law, No. 1 of 1977, section 9 of Act, No. 1 of 1982 or section 9 of Act, No. 47 of 1990, and receives a pension under the aforesaid provisions preceding the date of commencement of this Act, shall, on and after the date of commencement of this Act, cease to receive such pension”.

Accordingly, it is clear that, as per the above passage of this bill, the relevant repeal of pensions, once enacted, will be relevant not only to current members of parliament but also to those members who continue to receive pensions under the current arrangements.

This bill has not yet been passed in Parliament, and its first reading took place on January 7. The bill will come into force after receiving the approval of the Speaker after the second and third readings.

Statement by the Minister of Justice and National Integration

Releasing a statement after the bill to repeal the Parliamentary Pensions Act was presented to Parliament, Minister of Justice and National Integration, Attorney-at-Law Harshana Nanayakkara, stated that the relevant steps will be taken to pass the bill after it is taken for the second and third reading.

The minister explained that any party can make a separate request regarding the inconveniences that may arise regarding this Bill; however, after the Bill is passed, all members of Parliament will not be entitled to a pension.

However, he clarified that this will not affect any pensions received before the Act, and there will be no need to repay them.

Furthermore, he explained that this action has been taken in light of the promise made by the National People’s Power to abolish the Parliamentary Pension scheme, which entitles a minister to a pension, even after 5 years of service. The Minister’s full statement is as follows.

Acting Director of Parliament (Communications)

We inquired with the Acting Director (Communications) of Parliament regarding the circulated social media post.

The Director stated that the bill to repeal the Parliamentary Pensions Act was presented to Parliament on the 7th and that the relevant bill clearly states that everyone’s pensions will be abolished after the new bill is passed, including those of current MPs.

He furthermore explained that, after the first reading, anyone will have 14 days to approach the Supreme Court regarding the bill in accordance with the Constitution, and if a case is filed, there will be a period of 3 weeks for the Supreme Court to announce its decision. Later, after the decision is received, the Speaker will announce it to the House, and if there are any amendments, the Bill will be forwarded to the second reading, after making those amendments. The decision whether to pass the bill or not will be made after the vote is taken.

The Director further stated that if the bill is passed, the Speaker will then affix the certificate, and the bill will become law from the time of such affixing of the certificate.

A must-talk-about bill was passed last year under this same procedure.

Similarly, several misleading posts were submitted in 2025, regarding the Bill to repeal the President’s Entitlements Act, and here is a fact-check clarification on the topic. At that time, the Bill was also presented to the Parliament, and was passed within a period of two months, and through it, certain rights that former Presidents and their wives were entitled to were lost.

Professor Prathibha Mahanama Hewa

Attorney-at-Law Professor Prathibha Mahanama Hewa also explains that more than 335 people, including 189 widows and children, are currently entitled to this MP’s pension. He states that there has been a large public outcry towards this entitlement, over the past as well, and once this bill is passed, all the MPs will lose the privilege to draw a pension. His comments can be found here.

There have been various discussions on social media regarding the Parliamentary Pensions (Repeal) Act for members of parliament, and here is a review of the facts we conducted several months ago, including details of the draft bills.

Also, another series of social media posts was published regarding the provision of vehicles for the Ministers, and below is a fact check we did regarding it.

Has Rs. 12,500 million been allocated from the budget to provide vehicles for MPs?

However, the Retired Parliamentarians’ Association had previously requested that the decision to repeal the Parliamentary Pensions be reconsidered, and expressing his views on this matter, former MP Ali Sabri had also stated that abolishing the pensions of MPs is not a reform, but rather creates a risk of narrowing political space.

Join us to learn more about our investigative fact findings.

Conclusion:

Our investigation shows that the viral social media posts stating that the abolition of the MP Pensions does not apply to the current Parliament are false and misleading.

The Bill to repeal the Parliamentary Pensions Act was submitted to Parliament, and the Bill will become a law only after a vote held after the second and third readings in Parliament, followed by the approval of the Speaker.

As clearly stated in the Bill, after the Bill comes into effect, the pension entitlement of all MPs would cease, including current and those who were entitled to it under previous Parliaments.