Future SJB Govt. will facilitate the return of Sri Lankan economic migrants: S.M. Marikkar 

• Claims youth and professionals are now leaving the country in droves 
• Reveals the party plans to push for a change in Govt. following LG polls 
• Says the SJB will improve the economy within 6 months of coming into power

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Deputy National Organiser S.M Marikkar says, Sri Lankan immigrants who moved abroad recently due to the economic crisis will be able to return to Sri Lanka under an SJB Government. He says the party will create a background in which they will be able to return to the country. The MP made these comments at a press conference held at the Opposition Leader’s office in Colombo yesterday. 

Slamming President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Statement of Government Policy, Marikkar said the speech was nothing but empty words. “He now claims he will only be able to save the country from bankruptcy in 2026. But he claimed he would do so in one year,” he recalled, adding that despite the worsening situation the President is now calling on people to not leave the country. 

“While he spent Rs. 200 million for his personal gratification by holding an Independence Day celebration, the citizens were left suffering and worried about the future of their children. Can people be stopped from leaving in such a scenario?” the MP asked. 

“The people have been forced to adjust to the power cuts and drink substandard medicine. They have been taxed on their salaries and obtain fuel to a QR code quota. They also must bear increased electricity and water tariffs. The country is in ruin. The youth and professionals are leaving the country. The people are rioting and the Government is using the Police and military against them,” he noted. 

The MP said the people need not wait till 2026 and the people’s mandate will show a visible change following 9 March. “It will show the President and the Government where the true mandate of the people lies,” he said, adding that the SJB will ensure the Parliament is dissolved thereafter and the Government is toppled by August. The SJB MP claimed that a Government under the party will make great improvements in the economy within just six months.