says poor can benefit from their free handouts and lauds newcomers for clearing their tax dues

Welcoming the advent of billionaire businessmen into active politics, the main opposition SJB on Thursday said that their incoming coupled with spending millions of rupees would be a blessing for the people who have been hit hard by multiple crises.

Addressing a press conference held at the Opposition Leader’s Office in Colombo, SJB Gampaha District MP Harshana Rajakaruna said: “These billionaires now have started to shell out monies from their bank accounts because they are in a quest to attract people by distributing handouts and goodies. It is something good because people who have no means to survive could be benefited by that.

In addition, they have started paying their taxes and to settle their dues to the Inland Revenue Department. That too is a welcome sign. If they had not come to active politics, they would have kept their monies hoarded without paying taxes. As they started to settle their dues the government coffers benefited and it would be for the benefit of the people ultimately.”

Rajakaruna said that these businessmen last week announced their plans to enter into active politics at a time when President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the SLPP government are doing their utmost not to hold elections. “There is no sign of holding the local government elections that should have been held in March this year. The provincial councils are without elections for four and half years.

In the meantime, the government is saying that it would bring laws to reform the general elections procedure. That plan too is aimed at further delaying the parliamentary elections. We have information that ways and means are being discussed in the upper circles of the government ranks to put off the Presidential elections too. This situation cannot go on and on forever.

They will have to conduct elections. It is in this context of not having an exact time for elections, the businessmen have announced their plans to enter into politics. Their decision to shake their moneybags would be beneficial to the general public. Their start paying taxes is the biggest gain for the country,” Rajakaruna said.

National Organizer of the SJB Youth front Chamith Wijesundera also addressed the media.