A group of MPs are reportedly considering the option of not contesting at the next General Election due to financial difficulties faced by them.

It is learnt that a large number of newcomers to Parliament at the 2020 General Election are contemplating not contesting at the next General Election due to the heavy expenditure they had incurred at the last election and the failure to recover the monies.

Some of them, it is also learnt, have discussed that their final decision on contesting at the next General Election would depend on whether they would be given the duty-free vehicle permit that was earlier given to MPs and was later suspended due to the economic crisis and the Government’s decision to ban vehicle imports.

The duty-free vehicle permits that were given to MPs were reportedly valued at around Rs. 20 million and most of the recipient legislators had sold them for a similar value. A larger number of members in the new Parliament had lost this opportunity and are disgruntled that they are unable to recover the expenses incurred by them in their path to Parliament.

However, the Government is yet to make any decision on restarting the allocation of duty-free vehicle permits to MPs.