May Day on a low key

Wijitha NAKKAWITA

The May Day this year will be celebrated on a low key with the two major political parties, the UPFA and UNP, deciding not to hold public rallies in Colombo.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa who was associated with trade unions over a long period of time and a Labour Minister in the 1994 PA Government will meet trade union and working class representatives at Temple Trees on May Day.

The UPFA will hold its May Day Rally at Bandarawela with the participation of trade unions and UPFA parliamentarians.

The UNP will not hold a public rally but party branches all over the country will hold religious activities on May Day. The UNP last year held religious rites at the Kelani Raja Maha Viharaya while the UPFA held its rally at Dehiattakandiya on a grand scale.

The May Day was made a public holiday in 1956 by the MEP Government led by Premier Bandaranaike and the Labour Minister was T.B. Illangaratne, himself a trade unionist before he entered Parliament.

This year's May Day, the world's working class day, comes after 120 years after the Haymarket riot in Chicago where the workers demanding an eight hour working day were killed by hired thugs.

In later years, on working class and left political parties and socialist countries started celebrating May Day on a grand scale.