As one of the most dynamic and deeply rooted smaller political movements in Sri Lanka, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) is in the middle of a deep internal political crisis right now. It started with the unexpected ousting of Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister last week and appointing former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the position of premier.
Since the August 2015 parliamentary election the political arena had been shaped by the coalition between the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). The most important thing in these political parties is the historical rivalry. Therefore, it is not a secret to any political analyst that there were serious differences on policy issues between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe since the end of the honeymoon period of first 100 days of Unity Government formed in 2015. Indeed, this serious conflict reached its peak and was revealed to the whole world on October 26, 2018.
Then, the JVP becomes extremely busy backing the opposition move for a vote of no-confidence motion against current Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa. It is indeed ironical, in Sri Lanka’s political history, the UNP and the JVP to come together to share a common political platform.
Parliamentary democracy
The JVP, a party which claims to be the champion of parliamentary democracy - the cause of Parliamentary tradition and norms, Standing Orders, the Constitution and Law and Order has breached the same norms through its present behaviour aimed at protecting the class enemy, the UNP, its leader former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his elitist political gang.
On the one hand, many JVP grass roots level cadres led by popular Trade Union Activist, Lal Kantha reportedly expressed their vehement opposition to extending any support to the UNP or its leader. However, the JVP parliamentary leaders including Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Vijitha Herath and few others said they would join with the UNP to defeat the government. However they would not associate with the UNP to form a Government. Although the JVP brought the No Confidence Motion against the new administration of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, its Propaganda Secretary Vijitha Herath noted that there is false news that the JVP is supporting Ranil Wickremesinghe. However, he defended the No Confidence Motion by stating that the current move by President Sirisena was unconstitutional and undemocratic and also against morality.
However, the JVP reiterated that it would never help the UNP to form a government. These diverse positions amply display the duplicity of the JVP policy.
It is sad to see the JVP losing its strength among the youth due to these double standards, because it has served a purpose in Parliament as the main socialist party in the country. The committed JVP cadres lament that the party that had adhered to the original JVP principles is being hoodwinked by the UNP again and again.
Nevertheless, after January 8, 2015, Sri Lanka has a democratic government. At the moment, indeed, ‘good governance (yahapalana) government’, is facing midlife crises. Considering the current political situation anyone would say we need a general election to elect a new Parliament. The JVP points out that the reasons given by government for its decision to go for a general election is not genuine.
Second insurrection of 1988-89
Although people are quite happy about the role played by the JVP as a Parliamentary party, they have not forgotten its recorded history of blood- shed. The first insurrection of the JVP in 1971 had claimed the lives of 8,000 to 10,000 people, mostly youths. The government at that time estimated that the cost of the damages caused by the 1971 insurrection amounted to over Rs 20 million. The second insurrection of 1988-89 claimed over 50,000 lives and massive losses of property.
Even in fatal situations, the people acknowledged and admired the commitment of the JVP and the honesty of its leaders. However, one thing is clear today, the so-called dynamic and deeply rooted political party in Sri Lanka, the JVP is acting today on short term expediencies. This is in contrast to the JVP policies. In the early days of the JVP, it had a very clear vision. According to Shyamon Jayasinghe’s analysis in the Colombo Telegraph, the most important thing is that the JVP had a clear and unambiguous eventual goal, to which it had been working under the leadership of Rohana Wijeweera, Gamanayake etc. (Colombo Telegraph, March, 28, 2018)
Nowadays, many scholars argue that the major crisis of the JVP is that it has lost their own purpose. They have now aligned themselves with one of the major political parties for self gain. This policy cannot be attractive to its cadres and they will find it difficult to attract new members to the party. At this stage, JVP is going to find it hard to be the third political force in the country in the future political context.
The JVP was a major actor in the prevailing turbulence situation in parliament over the last three weeks. Finally, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna should understand its responsibilities towards democracy and the fact that ‘creating chaos is not democracy’.
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