Sri Lanka: JVP leader assures business that it defends capitalism
By
K. Ratnayake
25 September 2017
Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and chief opposition whip in the Sri Lankan parliament, has called on big business to recognise his party as a viable alternative to the country’s two establishment parties—the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).
Dissanayake made his appeal to a September 14 meeting of business leaders organised by the JVP at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall. The event was entitled “The Way Forward for Sri Lanka, We are Sri Lankan” and is part of the JVP’s campaign for the next parliamentary elections, scheduled in 2020.
In the 2015 presidential elections, the JVP backed Maithripala Sirisena to oust former President Mahinda Rajapakse, then supported the UNP-SLFP “unity” coalition government that was subsequently formed. Hypocritically, the JVP is now attempting to distance itself from this same regime, accusing it of corruption and blaming it for the country’s economic crisis.
Dissanayake assured business leaders that they should not harbour “any doubts” about the JVP and its attitude towards the private sector. “We have ‘Our Vision’ but the [JVP’s] policies will be determined by taking together your ideas and ours. The private sector is essential for the economy, as well as the state sector,” he declared.
The JVP was established in the 1960s based on an amalgam of Castroism, Stalinism and Sinhala chauvinism and advocating the “armed struggle.” It long ago abandoned its guerillaism and entered parliament to integrate into the Colombo political establishment. The JVP played a key role in assisting SLFP leaders Chandrika…