Sri Lanka removes military personnel from security of former presidents

Colombo, Dec 23 (PTI) Military personnel engaged to provide security to former Sri Lankan presidents have been withdrawn with effect from Monday evening, the Defense Ministry sources said.

From now, only police would be attached to the personal protection divisions of former presidents.

Last week, the parliament was told that slashing excessive personal security provided to former presidents would lead to saving of Sri Lankan Rs 1,200 million annually.

The opposition Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), which Mahinda Rajapaksa heads, claimed that slashing the security of the former president would endanger his safety.

Under the new arrangement, all former presidents would be provided just 60 police personnel each as recommended by the committee which assessed the issue, the government announced.

Opposition politician Udaya Gammanpila said the deployment of police to provide security would further hinder policing as the police force is already short of personnel to handle other matters.

He said it was the military that should be deployed to provide security as they are better trained for the purpose.

Earlier, the government had announced that the personal security provided to former presidents would be slashed from January 1.

Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala had said the government’s aim was to ensure the security of the entire country and the decision to cut excessive security (for former presidents) was in line with the government policy.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s share of expenditure was the highest with Rs 710 million for the deployment of over 310 personnel for his personal protection.

“It is not that we have personally targeted the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa,” Wijepala had said.

The SLPP dubbed the move a political act of vengeance claiming Rajapaksa was still under threat from remnants of the LTTE.

Sri Lanka had plunged into an economic crisis when the island nation declared sovereign default in mid-April of 2022, its first since gaining independence from Britain in 1948. PTI