The government has introduced a new policy permitting ex-Parliamentarians to own two firearms for their personal safety, Cabinet Spokesman Minister Bandula Gunawardena said.
Addressing the weekly post-Cabinet media briefing on Tuesday, Minister Gunawardena said accordingly, they will be allowed to own pistols.
The Cabinet Spokesman said the new policy was introduced taking into consideration the past unrest in Sri Lanka in 2022.
“We saw that a Parliamentarian was tortured and killed during the ‘Aragalaya. The houses of 72 MPs were set on fire. The President’s House was also attacked. A similar incident was reported in an escalated manner in Bangladesh recently. We cannot assure that a similar incident might not reoccur in Sri Lanka,” he said.
Minister Gunawardena said that as such, the government has decided to allow MPs to obtain two firearms for a cost after their tenure as Parliamentarians ends to ensure their safety.
He added that the MPs will be allowed to keep the firearms at their residences after their Parliamentary tenure ends.
Revealing that several Parliamentarians are already in possession of firearms, Minister Guanwardena said that however, he does not possess a firearm. (Newswire)