The main Parliamentary Opposition Party, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) emphasised that public sector employees should be satisfied and be empowered within the State mechanism, and that their demands should be looked at in a fair manner.

Noting this during a media briefing yesterday (9), SJB Parliamentarian Thushara Indunil Amarasena cautioned that the public would have to face the consequences of failing to take measures to improve the public sector employees’ lives, and that it is a concerning situation. He pointed out the importance of the Government being more receptive when it comes to dealing with protests launched and demands presented by public sector employees. 

“Instead of providing solutions to public sector employees’ demands, we see that there is a programme aiming to gradually suppress them,” Amarasena alleged, claiming that certain political parties are also attempting to exploit public sector employees to gain political advantages targeting the upcoming Presidential Election. 

Amarasena further claimed that the Government is not genuinely trying to provide solutions to public sector employees. Pointing to the Government’s statement that the Value Added Tax would have to be increased in order to provide salary hikes for public sector employees as proof, he alleged that this is an attempt to create divisions between public sector employees and the public by creating a notion that a salary hike would worsen the economic burden on the public.