Sri Lanka votes to eject former leader Rajapaksa from state mansion

COLOMBO, Sept 10 (AFP): Sri Lanka's parliament voted on Wednesday to evict former president Mahinda Rajapaksa and two others from state-owned mansions under austerity measures introduced by the new leftist government.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's party voted en masse to endorse a bill that will repeal a 1986 law that granted former leaders luxury accommodation and secretarial services.

Only one opposition MP voted against the bill, which was passed with a two-thirds majority of 150 in the 225-member assembly.

The bill was cleared a day after the Supreme Court ruled that stripping former heads of state of their privileges did not violate the Constitution.

The legislation followed Rajapaksa's refusal this year to vacate a lavish residence in the capital despite repeated requests. His party was among the petitioners who unsuccessfully challenged the bill.

Under the 1986 law, former presidents were also entitled to luxury cars with government-supplied fuel and secretarial staff on top of bodyguards.

With the repeal of the Presidents Entitlement Act, Hema Premadasa, the widow of assassinated president Ranasinghe Premadasa, will lose the pension she had been receiving since her husband was killed in 1993.