A bulletproof vehicle provided to former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa by the state has been returned, his media spokesperson Manoj Gamage confirmed.
Issuing a statement, Attorney-at-Law Gamage said the vehicle had been handed back.
The development follows a series of measures by the Sri Lankan government to scale back privileges previously afforded to former presidents, including state-funded vehicles, drivers, and other benefits. Earlier this year, the cabinet approved a move to reduce such perks in what it described as a cost-cutting measure.
Rajapaksa has publicly criticised the decision, accusing the National People’s Power (NPP) administration of engaging in “political terrorism” after he was forced to vacate his official Colombo residence and return multiple state-provided vehicles.
In recent months, Rajapaksa’s security arrangements have also been significantly reduced. The government earlier withdrew military protection units assigned to former presidents, including Rajapaksa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, transferring their security instead to police units.
Rajapaksa’s allies have claimed that the former president continues to face “serious threats,” including alleged warnings from the so-called Islamic State and remnants of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). These claims, however, have been widely viewed as attempts to justify his continued access to state resources more than fifteen years after the end of the armed conflict.
Rajapaksa, who ruled from 2005 to 2015, presided over the final phase of armed conflict in 2009, during which tens of thousands of Tamils were massacred in what is being increasingly recognised as a genocide.
He has since faced calls for international accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
