If S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike had not left the UNP to form the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), politics in Sri Lanka would have remained polarized between two clear camps: the left and the right. However, Bandaranaike’s decision to break from the UNP and establish the SLFP blurred these distinctions. Following the first anniversary of the Hartal in 1963, all leftist parties in Sri Lanka united to form the United Left Front (ULF), creating a strong opposition to both the Bandaranaike government and the UNP. This redefined the political landscape. Yet, the unity of the left was short-lived. Dr. N.M. Perera, leader of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party, eventually betrayed the ULF by joining Mrs. Bandaranaike’s government, once again muddling the divide between the left and right camps
After independence, the rise of the leftist movement in Sri Lanka was marked by significant events in years ending with number three, namely 1973, 1983, and 2013. The ‘hartal’ movement began in 1953, while the Left United Front was established in 1963. In 1993, leftist parties united under Chandrika’s leadership and formed a coalition. By 2003, the JVP had taken leadership from the SLFP and established the United People’s Freedom Alliance. Through the ‘aragalaya’, the JVP emerged as a dominant political force in the country by 2023.
However, except for 1953 and 1963, the rise of the Left occurred through SLFP in 1993 and 2003. However, in 2023, the rise of the Left was on its own, like in 1953 and 1963.
After Ranil became President in 2022, the Left developed a striking theory.
‘The 2024 Presidential Election is the first major milestone in Sri Lankan politics to divide between the left and the right since 1947. Ranil contested the presidential election as the candidate of the right, while Anura contested as the candidate of the left. Since 1951, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), which disrupted the divide between the left and the right, and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) now have no clear path forward. The 2024 contest between Ranil and Anura is similar to the battle between D.S. [Senanayake] and N.M. [Perera] in 1947’
This theory was formulated by the Left, rooted in their belief that Sajith Premadasa’s Samagi Jana Balaya entering the political fray could create chaos, much like Bandaranaike did in 1951. Bandaranaike, a leader with strong leftist leanings, disrupted the political battlefield back then. In contrast, Sajith, who leans heavily to the right, posed a different challenge. By potentially splitting the opposition to Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sajith threatened the Left’s position, prompting them to counteract his influence.
Sajith entered the political arena, but the 2024 presidential election ultimately became a contest between the Left and the Right. Sajith lost because he defended capitalist policies. While the JVP (Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna) did not advocate withdrawing from the IMF agreement, they made it clear that the IMF was not the solution to Sri Lanka’s economic crisis. On numerous platforms, the JVP emphasized that the country’s downfall was due to capitalist economic policies.
When the Frontline Socialist Party emerged to challenge the JVP, the Left urged unity, arguing against internal conflicts that might undermine the prospect of a leftist government. With hopes of a leftist resurgence, former intellectuals and party members of the traditional Left, along with those who participated in the 1971 and 1988 uprisings and later broke away from the JVP, rallied behind Anura Kumara Dissanayake in his presidential campaign. They envisioned a leftist government taking power. For the first time, Sri Lanka’s student and trade union movements appeared poised to inherit governmental leadership, driven by this shared dream.
However Anura has not taken a single left-wing decision since he became president. Looking at the government’s appointments, not a single left-wing appointment has been made. As soon as Anura became president, he appointed as his advisors and appointed to the government’s economic positions the country’s leading businessmen, who were devoted UNP members. They are the advisors who pushed Gota to the right when Gota became president in 2019, fearing that Gota would align to the left. Even today, Anura is surrounded by enthusiastic UNP members.
Anura is following Ranil’s economic policy today. During the 2015 Yahapalana government, conflicts arose between Maithri and Ranil over Ranil’s UNP economic policy. Maithri, a leader who created the left-wing SLFP, was afraid that if Ranil’s economic policy was followed, he would be ruined. Mahinda emerged from 2015 to 2019 because Maithripala was limited in opposing Ranil’s capitalist economic policies. Mahinda publicly stated that he and the SLFP were against the IMF. As soon as Gotabaya became president, withdrew from Ranil’s IMF agreement. Gotabhaya was made the president in 2019 because Gota knew that the people were against the IMF economic policies and price formulas implemented by Ranil.
The people in 2024 made Anura the president, not to implement the IMF agreement signed by Ranil without any change to it. The reason is that the National People’s Power, including Anura, told the people that Ranil had sold the country to the IMF and that the IMF was not a solution to the country’s crises. The left-leaning people who voted for Anura expected that Anura would present a new alternative economic program instead of the IMF. The right-leaning people who voted for Anura thought that Anura would trash Ranil’s IMF agreement and create a new IMF agreement.
Neither of these happened. Since Anura became president, Ranil’s IMF agreement has been implemented to the letter. It was Ranil who proposed to the IMF to change the tax payment limit of earnings. Ranil’s stupidity is that Ranil did not implement it before the presidential election. Now that Anura is implementing Ranil’s economic policies, Ranil’s followers are also getting excited and praising Anura. The left is watching as if they have eaten something weird.
‘If this continues, will the left end…?’
‘If try to change Ranil’s IMF agreement, it will be a big problem. The creditors will sue. The IMF will go. The country will go bankrupt again…’
This is the advice given by the UNP advisors surrounding Anura.
When Mahinda took over the country in 2005, Ranil also made a big deal about the ceasefire. By then, the US, Britain and the European Union had been named as co-chairs of the LTTE peace process through the ceasefire. The peace process between the LTTE and the government was coordinated by the mediator Norway. Chandrika, who took over the government in 2004, also got caught up in Ranil’s trap and signed an agreement with Prabhakaran to implement a tsunami relief board, tightening the knot even further.
When Mahinda became president, Mahinda was surrounded by advisors who were firmly holding onto this knot. Mahinda did not care about them.
‘Do not withdraw from the ceasefire. America, Britain, and Europe will give weapons to the LTTE and defeat the army. The country will be divided. Foreign aid will stop. Your presidency will be lost…’
This was the advice given to Mahinda by the advisors who were holding onto Ranil and Chandrika’s knot. Mahinda did not care for them. He took a mandate in the 2005 presidential election to withdraw from the ceasefire agreement. That was the first condition that the JVP supported Mahinda. The JVP did not believe that Mahinda could fulfil that condition.
But Mahinda made that decision by kicking Norway away, ignoring the powerful countries of the world, including America.
System change means just that. This system is safe. Today, the left is safeguarding a system built by the right. That is to shape the government.
