That party became a major political force in the country’s independence movement, which succeeded in 1948. The country’s first leftist political party, founded in 1935, was the Trotskyist Lanka Sama Samaja Party. In its early days, it wielded considerable influence. The turbulent history of Sri Lanka’s left continues to color the public’s perception of leftist parties. Over the past six months, the public has adopted the left’s concerns, demands, and language, but Sri Lankans are still not ready to see the left as a political alternative to the current ruling parties and elect more leftist politicians into government. The left’s position in the country’s aragalaya reveals a strange tension. (Currently, only three leftist politicians are in Parliament, all belonging to the National People’s Power.) This only worsened with this year’s intertwined economic and political crises, when the public started to condemn all political parties, including leftist ones. “We did not reveal our name but decided to contribute.”ĭue to the left’s complex history in the island, most Sri Lankans are opposed to leftist groups and politicians. “We did not join as because the people there did not like the state, Parliament, or political parties,” party spokesperson Pubudu Jayagoda said. But when they introduced these positions in a nonpartisan context, other people joined in their chants. When they identified that way in the past, few Sri Lankans listened or paid attention to them, said Kaushalya Ariyarathne, an academic and a member of the leftist National People’s Power party alliance. DRAMATIC BLACK WHITE PORTRAIT FREEThough they have yelled out chants with socialist agendas-defending universal health care and free education, and advocating for wealth redistribution, environmental conservation, and anti-corruption measures-many of these people haven’t outright identified as members of the left. DRAMATIC BLACK WHITE PORTRAIT PROFESSIONALIn the months that followed, leftist professional organizations, trade unions, and individuals also joined in, bringing their ideas and resources with them to the site’s complex political ecosystem. Members of student and youth unions linked to leftist parties set up camp at Gota Go Gama, the now-disbanded site in Colombo that became the center of the movement after it was established in April. Leftist parties are not the main players in the country’s aragalaya, or struggle, but they have shaped the movement considerably. As Wickremesinghe cracks down on dissent, and demonstrators figure out where to go from here, many critics and experts have overlooked the role the country’s left has played in the protest movement. The mass protests in Sri Lanka that led to the removal of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the appointment of a new president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, in July have now stalled.
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