Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has decided to move out of the official residence located at Colombo 07, it is learnt.
This comes in the wake of a notice from President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who said that if Mahinda does not vacate the official residence, he will be required to pay a monthly rental fee of Rs. 460,000.
“According to the Constitution, a former president is entitled to a residence or a third of their salary. Therefore, we will take over the residence and provide a third of his salary, which amounts to Rs. 30,000. Or else he can pay the remaining amount and purchase it. If he does not pay the rest, he has vacate the premises. This is the way forward. We must develop this country. Until now they have misled the public and lived luxuriously on public funds,” President AKD said while addressing a public rally in Kalutara on Sunday (19).
It is likely that the former President will move to the Carlton House in Tangalle.
His son, MP Namal Rajapaksa, said that this house does not belong to their family or to his father but is a government property allocated for former presidents due to security reasons.
However, he mentioned that he is willing to have his father vacate the premises at any moment if the government requests.
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