Sri Lanka's parliament on Thursday passed a motion to cut the personal budget of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who has refused to step down after twice losing confidence votes.

Lawmakers backing Rajapaksa boycotted the vote, which was passed by 123 to none in the 225-member parliament, declaring it illegal and calling into question the speaker's impartiality.

The motion was aimed at preventing Rajapaksa from using government money for his day-to-day expenses as prime minister.

First Published:Nov 29, 2018 1:39 PM IST