SLPP member and Parliamentarian Tharaka Balasuriya asked whether President Maithripala Sirisena had no shame when he approved his own retirement benefits at a cabinet meeting chaired by him.

The MP, in a tweet, described President Maithripala Sirisena's retirement package as a "golden parachute".

"How ethical is it for the head of the cabinet to use his own cabinet to approve his own retirement benefits?" he asked.

The SLPP has now formed an alliance with the SLFP while President Maithripala Sirisena has opted to remain "neutral" until the end of the election.

A month before the Presidential election, the Cabinet yesterday approved a paper allowing President Sirisena to use his current house at Paget Road as the official residence even after retirement.