65 years of fighting for the people

Raja COLLURE

The Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CPSL) marks the completion of sixty five years on July 3, 2008. For the CPSL this was a period of incessant struggles in defence of the rights and vital interests of the people and for the creation of a better future for them.

The roots

The roots of the CPSL stretches to the time of the return of Dr. Sugeeshawara Abeywardena Wickremasinghe from Great Britain after his studies as a convinced socialist.

His Socialist convictions were much in evidence in his speeches in the First State Council (1931-1936) in which he was a member.

Following the campaigns of the anti - imperialist Suriyamal movement (1933) under the chairmanship of Doreen Wickremasinghe (wife of Dr. Wickremasinghe) the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) was founded on December 18, 1935 with the twin objectives of freedom and socialism.

Dr. Wickremasinghe was one of the speakers at the inaugural public meeting of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party. The others were Philip Gunawardena, Dr. N. M. Perera and Dr. Colvin R de Silva.

The LSSP carried out many a successful campaign for administrative reforms and for social welfare both within and without the State Council in the period 1935-1939. The attempted deportation of the young planter M. A. L. Bracegirdle for his connections with the LSSP was successfully challenged by the lawyers for the LSSP in the Supreme Court in 1937.

Unfortunately for the socialists, some of the LSSP leaders who had come under the influence of the positions of Leon Trotsky decided to expel the members of the Executive Committee who disagreed with them.

Dr. S. A. Wickremasignhe, M. G. Mendis (a Joint - Secretary of the Party) K. Ramanathan (Editor of the “Samatharmam” - The Tamil organ of the Party), A. Gunasekara and W. Ariyaratne who opposed a resolution to condemn the Communist International were expelled from the Party (29 to 5 votes). An appeal by over 70 members to summon a conference to consider this matter was refused.

Those who were expelled from the LSSP together with their supporters and others functioned as a group and later in 1941 founded the United Socialist Party (USP) with M. G. Mendis as its General Secretary. They began building a base for the party among the Colombo Workers and engaged in activities against the colonial government. In 1942 the USP was proscribed along with the LSSP.

From July 2 to 3, 1943 the members of the USP who had continued to function in clandestine conditions met in conference. On July 03 the USP was dissolved and the Ceylon Communist Party now called the Communist Party of Sri Lanka was founded. Pieter Kenneuman was elected as the General Secretary.

Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe, M. G. Mendis, P. Kandiah, A. Vaidyalingam, K. Ramanathan, Udakendawala Saranankara Thera, T. Duraisigam, D. P. Yasodis, W. Ariyarathne were among those associated with the founding of the Party. Before long Premalal Kumarasiri, N. Shanmugathasan and H. G. S. Ratnaweera joined the leadership of the party.

Work among the working class

During the period beginning 1940 the Communists under the leadership of M. G. Mendis built a strong trade union centre called the Ceylon Trade Union Federation (CTUF) (now called the Ceylon Federation of Trade Union (CFTU) with affiliate unions in different trades and branches in factories and places of work.

In the course of trade union struggles waged from 1940 to 1946 the Communist - led trade unions could win for the workers some of the basic rights which they enjoy today.

Together with the LSSP they led the historic General Strike of 1947. This Strike which arose out of the discontent and unrest against the deteriorating living and working conditions and lack of ordinary civil rights soon covered both the private and public sectors.

Its demands included higher pay and trade union and political rights. Over 50,000 workers were involved in the strike. The Colonial Government used its repressive machinery to the maximum to crush the strike. V. Kandasammy was shot dead in the course of the strike. Although the 1947 General strike ended in defeat it impacted on the results by the 1947 General Elections.

The CP and the LSSP were in the forefront of the 1953 Hartal against the withdrawal of the rice subsidy, increase of postal charges and railway fares and the removal of the midday, meal for schoolchildren.

It developed into an island-wide protest campaign. The Government suppressed this country-wide protest by using the government’s coercive machinery after declaring a state of emergency. The Hartal emboldened the people to fight against the UNP government and eventually became a factor that influenced the results of the 1956 Elections.

In the 1960s the CP led trade unions carried out a number of struggles on issues that pertained to conditions of work (higher pay etc) and workers’ rights. A major strike was the strike launched in December 1967 by the Joint Council of Trade Unions (JUTUO) which the Communist trade unions helped to found. This strike was on the basis of 15 demands including the payment of a special living allowance.

In July 1980 the public sector trade unions of the JUCTUO launched a massive strike for an increase in salaries to compensate for the rise in prices of essential commodities and services. This strike which was later joined by the private sector was brutally suppressed. Hundreds of members of the communist led unions lost their jobs in consequence.

Communists have consistently fought for the betterment of the living and working conditions of employees of both the private and public sectors and won for them many trade union, civil and political rights. Since the Communists founded their trade unions there has not been a major trade union struggle in which they had not been in the forefront.

The Public Service (Workers) Trade Union Federation which had rendered a yeoman service to public servants for over sixty years was built by the Communists. In this respect the leadership given by J. A. K. Perera and Piyadasa Adipola will always be remembered. Trade unionists of the CP also helped to built the Sri Lanka Rajaye Lipikaru Sangamaya presently called the Sri lanka Management Services Union into a powerful trade union centre.

Through the association of CP led trade unions with international trade unions centres like the World Federation of Trade Union and trade unions in other countries the Sri Lankan trade union movement was linked to international trade union movement.

On the political front

The Communists’ struggle against colonial rule was begun before the CP was founded Dr. Wickremasinghe had to serve a term of imprisonment which stretched for over seven months (June 1941 - Jan 1942) for attacking the colonial government in an article written in the “Navashakthi” newspaper of November 1940. Udakendawala Saranankara Thera, D. P. Yasodis and Benette Silva had to serve long prison sentences for similar offences.

The CP opposed D. S. Senanayake’s demand for Dominion Status and instead urged full independence for the country. They joined in the campaigns of the Ceylon National congress which for sometime differed with the position of D. S. Senanayake and called for full independence. True to the positions of the Communists when the country was granted “independence” in 1948 the British retained a degree of control over the country’s defence and foreign affairs and had the Katunayake and Trincomalee bases under their charge until the change of government in 1956.

The 4th Congress of the party held at Matara in 1950 overcame the left adventurist tendency that had gripped the party at the time. This Congress defined the tasks of the party at the stage as being anti-imperialist and anti federal.

It identified that a section of the local bourgeoisie was democratic and anti-imperialist in contra distinction with the other section which is collaborationist with imperialism and dominated the UNP. It proposed that the working class (the left) should enter into an alliance with that section of the bourgeois which is anti imperialist, even if that alliance be temporary and only to an extent.

The proposals of the 4th Congress of the CP impacted on the left as a whole. During the early 50s’ Communist were engage in an attempt to build left unity. Although talks with the LSSP (NSSP) on this issue broke down it succeed in establishing a United Front with the LSSP (VLSSP) led by Philip Gunawardena. However the CP- VLSSP United Front so formed could not endure for long and collapsed in 1955 for no fault of the CP.

A split occurred in the LSSP in 1953 on the question of the formulation of a future government. One alternative considered was the formation of a government of an alliance of forces led by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike.

A section of these who split away from the LSSP on the issue including K. P. Silva, L. W. Panditha, V. A. Samarawickrema and K. A. E. Britto joined the CP in 1955. (K. P. Silva was General Secretary of the party from 1978 to 1994).

The decisions of the Matara Congress of the CP opened the way for the development of a new chapter in the political process in Sri Lanka. The split of in the UNP which led to the formation of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike showed the correctness of the appraisal of the Communists.

Initially the proposal for the formation of an alliance between the left parties representing the working class with the (national) bourgeois SLFP was interpreted by a section of the left as being class collaborationist.

However, by 1956 the stage was set for an electoral alliance between the left and the SLFP. The defeat of the UNP at the 1956 Parliamentary Elections and the coming to power of the SLFP led Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) brought about immense changes in the country covering almost all fields of activity.

There were democratic and social reforms. Administration also underwent change. National rejuvenation promoted by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike’s assumption of power boosted national culture, literature, drama and the arts. Sri Lanka became a respected member of the community of non-aligned states.

The SLFP Government which came to power in July 1960 on the basis of electoral arrangements with the LSSP and the CP carried out a number of social and administrative reforms of a progressive nature and established a national system of education. Among others it also adopted several steps to reduce economic dependence on imperialism.

In opposition during the period 1965 to 1970, the CP and the alliance of progressive forces carried out many struggles in defence of the democratic rights and the vital interests of the working people.

The “Attha” newspaper published by the CP with B. A. Siriwardena as editor and politically guided by H. G. S. Ratnaweera played a decisive role in rallying forces to bring the United Front government to power. This newspaper which ceased publication in 1995 due to financial constraints left an indelible mark on the

contemporary print media with its literary style, editorials and cartoons and helped the formation of public opinion on current issues.

The SLFP-LSSP-CP United Front Government of 1970 was instrumental in completing the country’s independence by adopting a republican constitution. Other measures carried out by this Government included land reform, the initiation of steps to develop an independent economy with a viable industry and an expanding agricultural base. Import substitution which was an aspect of its economic policy helped expansion of the agricultural and industrial sectors.

With the drift of the SLFP at that time to positions of compromise with imperialism the left, first the LSSP and later the CP quit the Government.

From the mid seventies to the early nineties the CP and the other left forces made an effort to build a left alternative. The formation of the United Socialist Alliance - comprising the newly formed Sri Lanka Mahajana Party (SLMP), the LSSP, the CP and the Nava Sama Samaja Party (NSSP) was a reflection of this development.

With increased repression and retrogressive measures adopted by the UNP Government of J.R. Jayewardene and R. Premadasa the CP and the LSSP saw the need to rally forces to change the Government and bring in to power a progressive Government which would strengthen democracy and solve the national problem.

The CP and the LSSP paid a major role in building the Peoples Alliance (PA) under the leadership f the SLFP which became the vehicle for change of Government.

The PA Government which came to power in 1994 under President Chandrika Kumaratunga made an effort to solve the national problem and install a new constitution with a high degree of devolution of power. It failed in this mainly because of the lack of cooperation of the Opposition without whose support the Government could not muster a two-thirds majority to carry thorough such changes. The PA Government of which the CP was a member, also carried out several reforms and development programmes.

When the UNP Government of 2001 made an attempt to solve the national problem through negotiations commencing with the signing of an MOU with the LTTE, the CP supported that endeavour.

However the peace process so initiated was stalled by the LTTE by 2003. On the economic front the UNP pursued a pro neo-liberal policy which began to prejudice local industry and agriculture and cast burdens on the people. The growing resistance of the people to the UNP Government resulted in the dissolution of that Government by President Kumaratunga.

At the Parliamentary elections that followed a broad spectrum of forces including the JVP rallied together under the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) to brig a new Government to power that included the CP among others.

The experience of the short-lived UNP Government made people to rally again to prevent the return of the UNP to power at the Presidential elections of 2005 which Mahinda Rajapaksa won with his pro-people manifesto.

The CP together with the other left parties actively campaigned to secure his victory, holding however, to their position that the solution of the national problem could be achieved only through a negotiated political solution based on devolution of power.

The CP has consistently stood for national unity of the people and for the defence of the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. It opposed the disenfranchisement of the Tamil people of recent Indian origin.

The party’s consistent position that both Sinhala and Tamil should be Official Languages and has been vindicated. The communists have advocated devolution of power as the solution to the National problem for over 60 years, long before the proposal was made by others.

When the 13th Amendment to the constitution was moved in Parliament CP (then represented in Parliament by D.E.W. Gunasekara) was the only Opposition party to support the Amendment.

Nearly fifty communists, among them PB member L.W. Panditha and Central Committee member George Ratnayake, were killed by the JVP because the CP supported its implementation which included the setting up of Provincial Councils. The Secretary of Jaffna District Committee of the Party PB member S. Vijananthan was killed by the LTTE during this period for similar reasons.

All these show that the CP although a small party had exerted a tremendous influence on the political developments in Sri Lanka.

Its struggles outside Parliament were effectively complimented by the role played within Parliament by such outstanding Parliamentarians like Pieter Kenneuman, Dr. S.A. Wickremasinghe, P. Kandiah and Sarath Muttetuwegama of the CP. The CP has always being in the main stream of politics in the country.

Its enemies failed to eliminate the party from its influential position in the country’s political landscape because of its deep roots among sections of the working people. That is why even the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of Socialist Governments elsewhere failed to deprive the CP of its position as a factor in national politics.

Presently the CP is engaged in consolidating the five party Socialist Alliance with its left programme so that the left will plans a stronger role in the politics of the country. Through the Socialist Alliance it seeks to intervene in the formulation of policies which accords with the interests of the nation and the aspirations of the people.

The Socialist Alliance will resist the attempt of certain forces to cause the Government to adopt a neo-liberal economic policy. Working in the Socialist Alliance the CP will press for the adoption of policies that strengthens democracy and social justice.

Together with the other forces of the left the CP stands for the abolition of the Executive Presidential system and the installation of Parliamentary system of Government with and electoral system based on proportional representation with constituencies.

The writer is Chairman, Communist Party of Sri Lanka.