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Cabraal to get cabinet-status and privileges, pension in limbo

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BY SANATH NANAYAKKARE

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa would soon elevate the ranking of the Central Bank Governor to be on par with a cabinet minister, Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said at the ‘Salakuna’ talk show telecast by Hiru TV recently.

When presenter Chamuditha Samarawickrame asked if this has not been done yet, Cabraal replied, “No, It will be done soon.”

“The issue here is: where really is the Central Bank Governor positioned in terms of precedence? In the near future it will be equated to that of a cabinet minister together with privileges attached and I would be given that rank,” he said.

When the program presenters pointed out that the General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, MP Sagara Kariyawasam had stressed that cabinet rank/ status would not be given to the Central Bank Governor, Cabraal responded: “He said so before I insisted on that. Not after.”

“The post of Central Bank Governor has to be in some order of precedence. At one time the Governor was on par with a cabinet minister. It was later changed for some reason and the president would act to re-establish its previous status,” he said.

However, he said that the elevated Governor’s position would not entail the powers of a cabinet minister and would only be placed on an equally important level.

“Given the current internal and external economic volatility and pressures, President Rajapaksa insisted on my assuming that responsibility. I was functioning as a state minister and performing my duties with great satisfaction; but if the country needs my services again as CB Governor, I would fulfill those duties with equal enthusiasm.

“The President would have thought that with my past experience and performance at the Central Bank, I would be able to help bring economic and price stability and enable growth through proper policy advocacy,” he said.

In response to a question which has become a political hot potato, the Governor said that he was not getting a pension as he is working at the Central Bank again.

“When I first assumed the post at the Central Bank in 2006, I didn’t think of a pension. Nor did I worry about my salary. I didn’t get a duty-free vehicle either because I had those things. I worked for a salary of Rs. 70,000 per month. Can you imagine a chartered accountant with a 33-year experience in top management roles in leading organizations working for a mere Rs. 70,000?,” he asked.

“In fact, I applied for pension four years after I left the office of Governor in January 2015. Any other person would have done so the following day. Former Governor Coomaraswamy informed me that the request would be taken up with the then President’s Secretary and after some time I got a letter of rejection.

“I just left the matter there without making any noise about it. Last Governor Prof. W.D. Lakshman would have acted on a pension scheme and I saw in the newspapers that a pension would be paid. If the President’s Secretary has approved a pension, I can take it. I thought I should get what I am entitled to.

“Governor Lakshman worked at the Central Bank for two years and when he gets a pension, others also should get it. I worked at the Bank for nine years. He can’t be paid without my being paid,” he said.

During Prof. W.D. Lakshman’s tenure as Governor from November 2019 to September 2021, the Monetary Board approved pensions with arrears for several former governors including Cabraal irrespective of the lengths of their tenure.

Under the new scheme, all Governors will be eligible for pensions regardless of their service periods, despite other public sector employees requiring at least 10 years of service to qualify for a pension. The only exceptions are Members of Parliament who get a pension after five years.

According to media reports at the time, the Monetary Board’s decision followed requests from the then State Minister of Finance, Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms, Ajith Nivard Cabraal.

However, Cabraal told Hiru TV that he had asked for it just once.

When asked if former governor Arjuna Mahendran would also be entitled to a pension, he said “If there is a disciplinary inquiry against someone and if there is suspicion, there is room for his pension not to be paid.”



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Cop who accepted Rs 3000 bribe nabbed by CIABOC

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A police officer attached to the  Raddolugama police station who accepted a bribe of Rs 3000/- from a motorist has been nabbed by officers attached to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) on Monday (14) evening.

It is alleged that the police officer demanded Rs 3000/- from the motorist to return his driving licence without prosecuting him for a traffic offence.

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GMOA swings into action on Vithana’s disclosure of MPs’ salaries, etc.

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MP Vithana / Dr. Sugathadasa

The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) has sought an explanation from Parliament regarding how PAYE (Pay As You Earn) is applied to parliamentarians.

GMOA Secretary Dr. Prabath Sugathadasa has written to the Secretary General of Parliament, Kushani Rohanadeera, in terms of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

Information was sought on 09 July, 2025, in the wake of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Kalutara district parliamentarian Jagath Vithana posting his pay sheets from January to May this year on his Facebook.

In addition to information on PAYE, the GMOA has posed a number of other questions to the Secretary General regarding the parliamentarians’ salary as well as pensions.

Parliament passed the RTI Act on 24 June, 2016, and it came into effect on 03 February, 2017. This act, introduced through the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, in 2015, is meant to promote transparency and accountability in government.

New controversy has erupted in the wake of Nawa Janatha Peramuna lodging a complaint with the CIABOC seeking an investigation into Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickremaratne abusing public property, a claim denied by the Secretary General of Parliament.

According to Vithana’s May pay sheet, his monthly allowance is Rs. 54,285, entertainment allowance Rs 1,000, telephone allowance Rs 50,000, sitting allowance Rs 5,000, office allowance Rs 100,000, fuel allowance Rs 97,428.92 and transport allowance Rs. 15,000. His take home pay is Rs 317, 760.92 after the deduction of Rs 1,200 for catering, stamp duty Rs. 25 and Advance Personal Income Tax (APIT).

Asked whether he regretted the releasing of pay sheets, lawmaker Vithana told The Island that in the run-up to the last parliamentary elections, held in November 2024, he had promised the Kalutara electorate he wouldn’t draw his salary. The MP said that however, he later felt the salary should be accepted and used in support of public welfare projects undertaken by him. “Therefore, the money was used appropriately,” he said, adding that both the government and Opposition MPs reacted with resentment. “I feel sort of isolated in Parliament. Hardly anyone talks to me,” MP Vithana said.

Dr. Sugathadasa said that having perused the pay sheets posted online, the GMOA had felt the urgent need to seek a clarification from Parliament as the lawmakers appeared to have received special status. The top GMOA official emphasised they wanted to establish the truth and used the RTI law to obtain information regarding the MPs’ salaries, pensions and other related information. “The GMOA made the request on 09 July, 2025. We are confident the Parliament will answer our queries,” Dr. Sugathadasa said.

Parliament meets only eight days a month. Attendance is not compulsory and there is no fixed time for lawmakers to attend sittings. Over the years, sittings have been suspended for lack of quorum.

The Island asked the GMOA official whether they would seek the intervention of the RTI Commission in case the Parliament declined to reveal the information sought by them. Dr. Sugathadasa said that the Executive Committee of the GMOA would decide the course of action if Parliament withheld information.

A few years ago Chamara Sampath, of Wijeya Newspapers, successfully moved the Court of Appeal against the Parliament after the latter refused to disclose names of Members of Parliament (MPs) who had handed over their respective declarations of assets and liabilities in 2018 and list of names of MPs who have handed over their Declarations from 2010 to the time he made the request (21 June, 2018).

The Court on 28 February, 2023, reaffirmed the RTI Commission’s stand that Declarations of Assets and Liabilities Law of 1975 (DALL) didn’t prevail over the Right to Information Act no. 12 of 2016 (RTI Act).

According to the Parliament website, an MP is paid Rs. 54,285, entertainment allowance Rs 1,000, driver’s allowance Rs 3,500 (only if driver is not provided by government). Fuel allowances are paid based on the distance from Parliament to the electoral district which each MP was elected and the approved market price of one litre of diesel on the first day of every month, telephone allowance Rs 50,000, transport allowance for personal staff Rs 10,000, and stamps worth Rs 350,000 issued to each MP annually.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

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Udaya alleges Prez hasn’t given up efforts to bring in outsider as AG

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Sri Lanka Educator Service Lecturers’ Trade Union yesterday (14) protested outside the Education Ministry, demanding that the government address their grievances. (Pic by Nishan S. Priyantha)

Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) leader and former Minister Udaya Gammanpila says President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has delayed making a permanent appointment to the post of Auditor General in a bid to bring in an outsider early next year.

Addressing the media yesterday (14), Attorney-at-Law Gammanpila said that three civil society members of the Constitutional Council, who opposed the President’s move, would be completing their term in early January next year. Instead of appointing Dharmapala Gammanpila as the Auditor General, the President had given him only an extension in service so as to get rid of him at the first available opportunity and bring in his crony from the Kelaniya University.

The former lawmaker said that the success of the President’s plan depended on the appointment of pliant civil society members to the CC, ready to help advance the NPP’s agenda.

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