Choose right team for system change: Marikkar tells youth 

• Urges SL’s youth to hang on to the dream of change in current system 
• Asks them to not choose those who are only skilled in rhetoric such as JVP 
• Claims political elite are afraid Premadasa will become country’s leader 
• Says SJB will not support any non-SJB candidate at next Presidential poll 

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP S.M. Marikkar called on the country’s youth yesterday to choose the correct team to bring about a system change in Sri Lanka. 

Addressing a press conference at the Opposition Leader’s office, the MP urged the youth to persevere in their pursuit of a change in the current system and to refrain from giving up. However, Marikkar said it was imperative they choose the right team to take up the task. 

He cautioned: “In the past, the country suffered significant harm when someone unqualified was elevated to the status of a hero. Let us not make the same mistake again by elevating individuals who are only skilled in rhetoric.”

The MP pointed out that the leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) did not succeed when it had a role in Government during President Chandrika Kumaratunge’s tenure. He also asserted that the party lacks the ability to effectively interact with the international community. He remarked, “Can Anura Kumara engage in discussions with the IMF? They are unable even to manage waste collection in Local Councils.”

Marikkar suggested that the political elites in the country will only face consequences for their misdeeds if someone from a non-aristocratic background, like SJB leader Sajith Premadasa, assumes leadership. “The Rajapaksas and Wickremesinghe are afraid that he will become the leader of the country,” he alleged. 

The MP enumerated a multitude of shortcomings of the present President and Government. He predicted that within the next year, the country will witness a change in leadership, with Wickremesinghe no longer serving as Sri Lanka’s leader due to the immense suffering faced by the people. 

“The Government is going to change. Sajith Premadasa will lead a broad alliance as its Presidential candidate. We will not endorse any candidate who is not from the SJB,” the MP said.