Pivithuru Hela Urumaya leader and Attorney Udaya Gammanpila today criticised the government’s handling of MP allowances, saying that public funds provided for official purposes cannot legally be donated to political party funds.
Responding to MP Dayasiri Jayasekara’s proposal to ban MPs from contributing their allowances to party coffers, Gammanpila said there is a clear difference between spending one’s salary and misusing public allowances.
He explained that while MPs are free to use their personal income as they wish, allowances such as those for offices, fuel, communications, and transport must be spent strictly for the intended public purpose. “Funds given to maintain an office—such as rent, electricity, or equipment—cannot be handed over to a party. Doing so amounts to the misuse of public money,” he said.
Gammanpila warned that such actions amount to the misappropriation of public property, a non-bailable offence. “All 159 government MPs who misuse these public funds are committing a serious crime. Under the next government, an entire ward at Welikada Prison will have to be reserved for them,” he declared. (Newswire)