Sri Lanka, Jan. 23 -- Former Speaker of Parliament Karu Jayasuriya has directed a letter to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake regarding the abolition of pensions for Members of Parliament.

The letter was submitted in his capacity as the Patron of the Former Parliamentarians' Caucus.

In the letter, Jayasuriya stated that at the time of Sri Lanka's independence, politics was largely confined to an educated and wealthy land-owning elite, but that a major social transformation took place after 1956, allowing ordinary citizens to also participate in politics.

The former Speaker highlighted that under current circumstances, measures such as depriving MPs of their pensions would result in politics being restricted solely to the wealthy, busi...