Socialism in Sri Lanka

Last updated

The Socialism in Sri Lanka or Sri Lankan socialism is a political philosophy that is shared by various political parties of the country. Socialist parties, especially the Trotskyist Lanka Sama Samaja Party, have played a major role in the country's history from the time of the Sri Lankan Independence movement. [1] Socialist ideology shaped the principal economic and social policies of Sirimavo Bandaranaike and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party during the 1970s. [2] Several sectors of the economy including banking, insurance and some privately owned estates were nationalized during her tenure. Bread and several essential items were rationed by the government at the time. [2] [3]

Contents

Bandaranaike and her military escort, pictured in 1961 Sirimavo Bandaranaike 1961 (cropped) 5.PNG
Bandaranaike and her military escort, pictured in 1961

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna is a communist and Marxist–Leninist party and political movement in Sri Lanka. The movement was involved in two armed uprisings in Sri Lanka however they entered into the democractic process in 1994. [4] [5]

Lanka Sama Samaja Party main office in Colombo Lsspoffice.JPG
Lanka Sama Samaja Party main office in Colombo

Lanka Sama Samaja Party

Lanka Sama Samaja Party is a Trotskyist political party in Sri Lanka who played a major role in the independence movement of Sri Lanka. [6]

Sri Lanka Freedom Party

Sri Lanka Freedom Party is one of the major and most well known political parties in Sri Lanka. It was founded by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike. After independence, the SLFP represented a form of non-revolutionary populist socialism and a policy of non-alignment with strong ties to socialist countries. [7] [8] [9] However, after 1995 the party moved towards a more social democratic philosophy that sought to combine both the free market and the SLFP's traditional people friendly policies. [10] [11]

Notes

  1. "The day Trotskyists shut down a country: 65th anniversary of the Sri Lankan Hartal". 12 August 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Sri Lanka elects world's first woman prime minister: From the archive, 22 July 1960". TheGuardian.com . 22 July 2013.
  3. "Sri Lanka, Short of Food, Faces an Economic Crisis". The New York Times. 13 May 1974.
  4. "Sri Lanka's Marxist leader ends exile". 23 November 2001.
  5. "The Island". www.island.lk. Archived from the original on 2018-12-21.
  6. "International Trotskyism - Ceylon/Sri Lanka: The Rise of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party".
  7. "Sri Lanka, Economy Ailing, Pushes Nationalization". The New York Times. 13 October 1975.
  8. Stevens, William K. (20 October 1982). "Election in Sri Lanka Capitalism Versus Socialism". The New York Times.
  9. "THE COLOMBO POWERS AND THE SINO-INDIAN WAR OF 1962 | the Foreign Policy of Sirimavo Bandaranaike | People | Sri Lanka".
  10. "Political".
  11. "Chandrika Kumaratunga". www.g-l-f.org. Archived from the original on 2018-12-21.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chandrika Kumaratunga</span> President of Sri Lanka from 1994 to 2005

Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga , commonly referred to by her initials CBK, is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the fifth President of Sri Lanka, from 12 November 1994 to 19 November 2005. The country's first and only female president to date and the country's second female prime minister. She is the daughter of two former prime ministers and was the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) until the end of 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sirimavo Bandaranaike</span> Prime Minister of Ceylon (later Sri Lanka) from 1960–65, 1970–77, 1994–2000

Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike, commonly known as Sirimavo Bandaranaike (මැතිනිය), was a Sri Lankan politician. She was the world's first female prime minister when she became Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in 1960. She chaired the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) from 1960 to 1994 and served three terms as prime minister, two times as the chief executive, 1960 to 1965 and 1970 to 1977, and once again in a presidential system from 1994 to 2000, governing under the presidency of her daughter Chandrika Kumaratunga.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Communist Party of Sri Lanka</span> Political party in Sri Lanka

The Communist Party of Sri Lanka is a communist party in Sri Lanka. In the 2004 legislative election, the party was part of the United People's Freedom Alliance that won 45.6% of the popular vote and 105 out of 225 seats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike</span> 4th Prime Minister of the Dominion of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from 1956-59

Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike, often referred to by his initials as S W R D or S W R D Bandaranaike and known by the Sri Lankan people as "The Silver Bell of Asia", was the fourth Prime Minister of the Dominion of Ceylon, serving from 1956 until his assassination in 1959, causing him to die in office. The founder of the left-wing and Sinhalese nationalist Sri Lanka Freedom Party, his tenure saw the country's first left-wing reforms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lanka Sama Samaja Party</span> Political party in Sri Lanka

The Lanka Sama Samaja Party, often abbreviated as LSSP, is a major Trotskyist political party in Sri Lanka. It was the first political party in Sri Lanka, having been founded in 1935 by Leslie Goonewardene, N.M. Perera, Colvin R. de Silva, Philip Gunawardena and Robert Gunawardena. It currently is a member of the main ruling coalition in the government of Sri Lanka and is headed by Tissa Vitharana. The party was founded with leninist ideals, and is classified as a party with socialist aims.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sri Lanka Freedom Party</span> Political party in Sri Lanka

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party is one of the major and most well known political parties in Sri Lanka. It was founded by S.W.R.D Bandaranaike in 1951 and, since then, has been one of the two largest parties in the Sri Lankan political arena. It first came to power in 1956 and since then has been the predominant party in government on a number of occasions. The party is generally considered as having a democratic socialist or progressive economic agenda and is often associated with nationalist Sinhalese parties. The party follows a Non-Aligned foreign policy but always had close ties to socialist nations.

The Hartal 1953 was a country-wide demonstration of civil disobedience and strike, commonly known as a hartal, held in Ceylon on 12 August 1953. It was organized to protest against the policies and actions of the incumbent United National Party government. It was the first mass political action in Ceylon and the first major social crisis after independence. This event is of historical significance because it was the first people's struggle against an elected government in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William de Silva</span> Sri Lankan politician

Peduru Hewage William de Silva was a 20th-century Marxist/Trotskyist Sri Lankan politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anil Moonesinghe</span> Sri Lankan politician (1927–2002)

Anil Moonesinghe was a Sri Lankan Trotskyist revolutionary politician and trade unionist. He became a member of parliament, a Cabinet Minister of Transport in 1964, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament from 1994 to 2000 and a diplomat. He has authored several books and edited newspapers and magazines. He was chairman and general manager of a State corporation. He briefly held the honorary rank of colonel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vivienne Goonewardene</span>

Violet Vivienne Goonewardene, commonly known as "Vivi", was a Sri Lankan anti-colonial activist and prominent politician, serving as one of the world's first female ministers. A key figure in both the Indian independence movement and the Sri Lankan independence movement, Goonewardene was a prominent member on the non-aligned stage, where she fought against perceived injustices and was critical of the Middle East diplomacy sponsored by the United States. Goonewardene was the first and, to date, only female National Hero of Sri Lanka. By her death, she was one of the Left's most vibrant personalities, and the foremost female figure in the Sri Lankan leftist movement.

The Sri Lanka Sama Samaja Party (SLSSP) was formed in 1982, when the LSSP split over the question of a coalition with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip Gunawardena</span> Sri Lankan politician

Don Philip Rupasinghe Gunawardena was a Sri Lankan Marxist politician and leftist. A founder of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party, the first political party in Ceylon which was known for having introduced Trotskyism, he later formed the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna and was called 'the Father of Socialism' and as 'the Lion of Boralugoda'. A member of the State Council of Ceylon and the Parliament of Ceylon, he served as the Minister of Agriculture and food under S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike from 1956 to 1959 and as Minister of Industries and Fisheries in the national government under Dudley Senanayake from 1965 to 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1970 Ceylonese parliamentary election</span> Sri Lankan government elections

Parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon in 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1956 Ceylonese parliamentary election</span> Sri Lankan government elections

Parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon in 1956. They were a watershed in the country's political history, and was the first elections fought to realistically challenge the ruling United National Party. The former Leader of the House, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike who was passed over after the death of the first Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake, crossed over to the opposition to form the Sri Lanka Freedom Party to launch his bid for Prime Minister.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">July 1960 Ceylonese parliamentary election</span>

Snap parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon in July 1960.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominion of Ceylon</span> Country in South Asia from 1948 to 1972

Ceylon was an independent country in the Commonwealth of Nations from 1948 to 1972, that shared a monarch with other dominions of the Commonwealth. In 1948, the British Colony of Ceylon was granted independence as Ceylon. In 1972, the country became a republic within the Commonwealth, and its name was changed to Sri Lanka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hector Kobbekaduwa</span>

Hector Senarath Rajakaruna Bandara Kobbekaduwa was a Sri Lankan politician and lawyer. He was the Sri Lanka Freedom Party candidate in the 1982 Sri Lankan presidential election and the Minister for Agriculture and Lands from 1970 to 1977. He is remembered for nationalizing privately owned land and restricting the ownership of private land to 20 hectares for the purpose of giving land to landless peasants. He created collectively owned settlement programs called Janawasas in some of the land that was acquired. He contested the 1982 presidential election and lost. The campaign of the SLFP led by him advocated for restoring previous Sri Lanka Freedom Party policies. His opponents ran an effective campaign criticising the closed economy & socialist policies of his Sri Lanka Freedom Party – led regime from 1970 to 1977, they blamed the SLFP policies for creating scarcities of essential goods and unemployment. Although the SLFP led by him lost the 1982 Sri Lankan presidential election, he managed to gain a significant number of votes in Tamil speaking areas like Point Pedro defeating Tamil nationalist parties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leslie Goonewardene</span> Sri Lankan politician

Leslie Simon Goonewardene was a prominent Sri Lankan statesman. He founded Sri Lanka's first political party, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party, in 1935, and served as its General-Secretary from 1935 to 1977. Goonewardene was a key figure in both the Indian independence movement and the Sri Lankan independence movement. He was designated as a National Hero of Sri Lanka for his leadership in the independence movement, and his efforts are celebrated each year on the Sri Lankan Independence Day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sri Lankan Constitution of 1972</span> Fundamental law of Sri Lanka from 1972 to 1978

The Sri Lankan Constitution of 1972 was a constitution of Sri Lanka, replaced by the 1978 constitution currently in force. It was Sri Lanka's first republican constitution, and its second since independence in 1948. The constitution changed the country's name from Ceylon to Sri Lanka, and established it as an independent republic. The country was officially designated "Republic of Sri Lanka," leading to this constitution being known as "the 1972 Republican Constitution." The constitution was promulgated on 22 May 1972.

Communism in Sri Lanka dates back to 1935, when the Lanka Sama Samaja Party was founded by Trotskyists who campaigned for freedom and independence of Sri Lanka which was then a colony of the British Empire and known as Ceylon.

References