by Dr.K. Vijaya Kumar

(Vijaya Kumar is the President of the Lanka Estate Workers’ Union, a member of the Politbureau of the LSSP (Majority Group) and Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, University of Peradeniya)

The Lanka Sama Samaja Party holds its 81st Anniversary Celebrations this month. The celebrations in Colombo are to be held by the LSSP (Majority Group) at the New Town Hall at 4 pm on Thursday, 15th December.

The LSSP played a heroic role in Sri Lankan politics and continued to have the respect and admiration of the Sri Lankan public until it got stuck in the quagmire of coalition politics. Its total immersion in such politics led to a split in the Party. The strategy of the minority group led by Tissa Vitarana still appears to be bent on hitching its wagon to Mahinda Rajapakse or rather his proxy, Basil, being the first left party to align itself with the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). The Communist Party, on the other hand, has distanced itself from the SLPP and has successfully created an environment to unify the party.

The LSSP, from its beginnings, stood for the rights of the ordinary people of Sri Lanka, particularly the working class and built its reputation for fighting for a egalitarian society, protecting the rights of the people and safeguarding democracy. The 2014 split in the Party arose from the inability of the large majority of its members to reconcile themselves to support a Mahinda Rajapakse government which showed itself to support openly racist elements, develop a white van culture to deal with its political enemies and unsubmissive media, blatantly interfere with the rule of law and subvert democracy to keep itself in power.

Although the split began to surface from the time its MPs voted against the decision of the party to support the 18th Amendment, it became a reality when the leadership pushed through a resolution to support Mahinda Rajapakse long before the election was called. Although the Majority Group worked for Maitripala Sirisena and planned to align itself with his group, developments in the SLFP which culminated in defeated President Mahinda Rajapakse being allowed to contest for a parliamentary seat as an SLFP nominee disrupted these plans.

Along with others who refused to be on the same list with Rajapakse, the Majority Group aligned itself with the United National Front for Good Governance led by the UNP at the 2015 general election under an MOU that recognized the autonomy of those groups and one of its leaders was appointed as an MP on the national list.

The LSSP Majority Group was therefore in the difficult position of having to justify its being part of a Government dominated by the UNP although it hopes that the UNP – SLFP coalition will be able to take the country back on a path to democracy and protection of the rights of the people.

On the occasion of its 81st anniversary, it would be useful for the Majority Group to reflect on the performance of the government in which it is involved from August 2015. There can be no question that there is greater respect for democratic traditions now, although isolated instances of trying to use the big stick have surfaced. These are isolated incidents which would hopefully be addressed in due course although prophets of doom perhaps unfairly declare them as the beginnings of a path towards a pre-2015 environment.

There has been a concerted attempt and much progress made by the government in developing a solution to the national question through constitutional reform and devolution of power. The LSSP Majority Group has been heavily involved in these efforts and is proud of its contribution to the process. One wonders whether the government is putting in the kind of effort necessary to sell its reform strategy to the people. The 2000 Constitution Bill enjoyed the support of the people largely because of the determined effort over a period of time of President Chandrika and Mangala Samaraweera. No such effort is discernible yet.

Unfortunately with the emphasis on democracy and the rule of law, the efforts to investigate covered up crimes and the massive corruption that marked the Rajapakse regime are only slowly reaching fruition and may be further delayed by the slow moving judicial system. This is perhaps the biggest grouse the people have against the government, allowing room for speculation that a deal has been reached, a view that is fuelled by many of the contradictory statements made by politicians in power.

While there have been a few measures taken in the budgets to alleviate the living conditions of the working class and the people of the country, large increases in VAT have probably negated these efforts. The UNP is identified as a party of the capitalist class and it is necessary for the other stakeholders in the coalition and the President to work towards ensuring that the rights of the working class are protected by the coalition.

The Governments’ position has been that the massive loans taken by the MR Government and spent on uneconomic ventures have to be repaid with most of this money becoming due after 2018 and that the Government has to make arrangements to repay these loans. Many of the negotiations with the Chinese Government including Port City and Hambantota reveal the desperation of the Government.

Part of this strategy has been disclosed by the recent budget where definite plans for privatization particularly new strategies in educational and health reform have been spelt out. The hand of the IMF in these strategies seems clear and it will be the duty of the LSSP Majority Group to fight against these efforts at privatization.

The year ahead will be important for the LSSP Majority Group – will they be able to help find a solution to the national question, will they be able to preserve the gains in democratic rights since January 8th and will they be able to ensure that privatization is not used to rob the rights of the people? It is success in these efforts that would help them to claim that they were able to put into effect some of the principles of the LSSP of NM and Colvin.

Courtesy:Sunday Island