The Communist Party of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්රී ලංකාවේ කොමියුනිස්ට් පක්ෂය, ''Sri Lankavay Komiyunist Pakshaya'' ta, இலங்கை கம்யூனிஸ்ட் கட்சி, translit=Ilankai Komyunist Katche) is a
communist party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
in
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. In the
2004 legislative election, the party was part of the
United People's Freedom Alliance
The United People's Freedom Alliance (abbreviated UPFA; si, එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානය ''Eksath Janathā Nidahas Sandānaya''; ta, ஐக்கிய மக்கள் சுதந்திரக ...
that won 45.6% of the popular vote and 105 out of 225 seats.
History
The CPSL was founded as the Communist Party of
Ceylon
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
in 1943 and was a continuation of the United Socialist Party. The USP had been formed out of the
Marxist–Leninist
Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialect ...
wing of the
Lanka Sama Samaja Party
The Lanka Sama Samaja Party, often abbreviated as LSSP (Literal translation, literally: Lanka Socialist Party, Sinhalese language, Sinhala: ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය, Tamil language, Tamil: லங்கா சமசமா ...
. The USP was proscribed by the colonial authorities.
The USP and then the CPC was initially led by Dr.
S. A. Wickramasinghe
Dr. Sugiswara Abeywardena Wickramasinghe (13 April 1900 – 25 August 1981) was the founder of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka. He was the first Leftist to be elected to Ceylon State Council in 1931. He gave up all his wealth and comforts ...
.
In 1952 Wickremesinghe's wife, the English-born
Doreen Young Wickremasinghe, a former leader of the
Suriya-Mal Movement The Suriya-Mal Movement was formed in the British colony of Ceylon to sell ''Suriya'' flowers on Poppy Day for the benefit of Sri Lankan ex-servicemen. The movement became anti-imperialist in character, and was also involved in relief work during ...
, was elected to the
Sri Lankan parliament
The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ''Shri Lanka Parlimenthuwa'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் ''Ila ...
.
In 1963 the Communist Party,
Lanka Sama Samaja Party
The Lanka Sama Samaja Party, often abbreviated as LSSP (Literal translation, literally: Lanka Socialist Party, Sinhalese language, Sinhala: ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය, Tamil language, Tamil: லங்கா சமசமா ...
and the
Mahajana Eksath Peramuna
The Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (People's United Front) is a political party in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), for ...
formed the
United Left Front (1963) United Left Front may refer to:
India
* United Left Front (1957), an electoral alliance formed ahead of the 1957 West Bengal Legislative Assembly Election
* United Left Election Committee, electoral alliance formed ahead of the 1957 West Bengal Leg ...
. The ULF broke down in 1964 when the then Prime Minister
Sirimavo Bandaranaike
Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike ( si, සිරිමා රත්වත්තේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායක; ta, சிறிமா ரத்வத்தே டயஸ் பண்டாரநாயக்கே; 17 April 191 ...
offered ministerial posts to LSSP and the CP.
In the mid-1960s the
U.S. State Department estimated the party membership to be approximately 1900.
[
In 1968, the CP joined the LSSP and the SLFP in the ]United Front
A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political a ...
. In the 1970 government, Pieter Keuneman
Pieter Gerald Bartholomeusz Keuneman (3 October 1917 – 3 January 1997) was a Sri Lankan politician and a Marxist. He was the Cabinet Minister of Housing and Local Government and prominent Member of Parliament and a leading figure in the Commu ...
became Minister of Housing and Construction and B. Y. Tudawe
Balaupasakage Yasodis Tudawe (25 September 1915 – 22 January 2000) was a Sri Lankan communist politician. He was a member of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka, serving two terms as a Member of Parliament (Sri Lanka), member of parliamen ...
, Deputy Minister of Education. However, one faction of the party, led by S. A. Wickremasinghe and Indika Gunawardena, maintained a line of critical support for the government.
After the general election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
of 1977, for the first time in half a century, the CPSL found itself without parliamentary representation, receiving about 2% of the vote. However, after a subsequent election petition, Sarath Muttetuwegama
Sarath Muttetuwegama (29 December 1917 – 19 May 1986) was a Sri Lankan lawyer and communist politician. He was a member of parliament from Kalawana.
Born Sarathchandra Muttetuwegama to the Rate Mahatmaya of Kalawana, Muttetuwegama qualified as a ...
was elected to the Kalawana seat in a by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
.
Later CPSL joined the People's Alliance, the front led by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party ( si, ශ්රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය, translit=Śrī Laṁkā Nidahas Pakṣaya; ta, இலங்கை சுதந்திரக் கட்சி, translit=Ilaṅkai Cutantirak Ka ...
. When SLFP shelved the PA and formed the United People's Freedom Alliance
The United People's Freedom Alliance (abbreviated UPFA; si, එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානය ''Eksath Janathā Nidahas Sandānaya''; ta, ஐக்கிய மக்கள் சுதந்திரக ...
together with Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP; ) is a Marxist–Leninist communist party and a former militant organization in Sri Lanka. The movement was involved in two armed uprisings against the government of Sri Lanka: once in 1971 (SLFP), and anot ...
ahead of the 2004 elections
4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures.
In mathematics
Four is the smallest c ...
, CPSL and LSSP initially stayed out. They did, however, sign a memorandum with the UPFA at a later stage and contested the elections on the UPFA platform. CPSL does not, however, consider itself a member of UPFA.
The CPSL had one member of parliament in 2004, party general secretary D.E.W. Gunasekara. Gunasekara expected to become the speaker of the Sri Lankan parliament but lost by a handful of votes. Gunasekara was then sworn in as the Minister for Constitutional Affairs.
During the 2020 Parliamentary elections, the CPSL put forward two candidates, Mahesh Almedia in Colombo and Weerasumana Weerasinghe in Matara, under the SLPP's Pohottuwa symbol. Dr G. Weerasinghe was nominated for the party's National List. Weerasumana was the only candidate to successfully enter Parliament with 77,968 preferential votes.
Gunasekera stepped down as General Secretary of the CPSL on 30 August 2020. Dr G. Weerasinghe was unanimously elected as the new General Secretary by the Central Committee.
Party organization
The youth wing of CPSL is the Communist Youth Federation. CYF is a member organization of
the World Federation of Democratic Youth
The World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) is an international youth organization, and has historically characterized itself as left-wing and anti-imperialist. WFDY was founded in London in 1945 as a broad international youth movement, o ...
.
Allegations
The CPSL and other Leftist parties were framed by the J R Jayawardane government for instigating 1983 Black July
Black July ( ta, கறுப்பு யூலை, translit=Kaṟuppu Yūlai; si, කළු ජූලිය, Kalu Juliya) was an anti-Tamil pogrom that occurred in Sri Lanka during July 1983. The pogrom was premeditated,T. Sabaratnam, Pirapa ...
pogroms against the Tamil people. The party was banned and leaders including D.E.W. Gunasekera were imprisoned for over a year. The ban was lifted due to the lack of evidence for the charges and intervention from the Soviet embassy. The ban on the JVP and NSSP stayed the same.
Publications
'' Aththa'' (Truth) is the CPSL's flagship Sinhala newspaper, which was renowned for its high standard of journalism, progressive editorials and Sinhala prose.
The English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
organ of the CPSL was the ''Forward
Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward.
Forward may also refer to:
People
* Forward (surname)
Sports
* Forward (association football)
* Forward (basketball), including:
** Point forward
** Power forward (basketball)
** Sm ...
'' weekly.
Electoral history
See also
*Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist)
Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist) is a political party in Sri Lanka. The party surged in 1964 following a split in the Ceylon Communist Party. Initially the party just called itself 'Ceylon Communist Party' as well, and was distinguished from the ...
* Communist Party of Sri Lanka (Marxist-Leninist)
* New-Democratic Marxist-Leninist Party
References
External links
Gift from CPSL to the German Socialist Unity Party (SED) in 1976
{{Authority control
1943 establishments in Ceylon
Ceylon in World War II
Anti-imperialist organizations
Communist parties in Sri Lanka
Political parties established in 1943
United People's Freedom Alliance
Left-wing parties in Sri Lanka
International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties