Lanka Sama Samaja Party (Revolutionary) was a
Trotskyist
Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
in
Sri Lanka, formed in 1964 when the
Lanka Sama Samaja Party was expelled from the
Fourth International
The Fourth International (FI) is a revolutionary socialist international organization consisting of followers of Leon Trotsky, also known as Trotskyists, whose declared goal is the overthrowing of global capitalism and the establishment of ...
. LSSP(R) was constituted by the ideological hardliners who opposed LSSP joining the national government and wanted to preserve the bonds to the Fourth International. The
United Secretariat recognised it as the Sri Lanka section of the Fourth International.
The founders of LSSP(R) had 14 LSSP Central Committee members, and two members of parliament,
Edmund Samarakkody
Edmund Peter Samarakkody (19 April 1912 – 4 January 1992) was a Ceylonese lawyer, trade unionist, politician and Member of Parliament.
Early life and family
Samarakkody was born on 19 April 1912, the fifth of seven children to Charles Peter ...
and
Meryl Fernando
Weerahennedige Theodore Wilfred Meryl Fernando (18 April 1923 – 27 May 2007) was a Ceylonese teacher, trade unionist, politician and Member of Parliament.
Early life and family
Fernando was born on 18 April 1923. He was educated at Prince o ...
. Other significant leaders were
V. Karalasingham and P.
Bala Tampoe
Bala Tampoe (23 May 1922 – 1 September 2014) was a Sri Lankan lawyer and a trade unionist. He was the General Secretary of the Ceylon Mercantile, Industrial and General Workers Union (CMU) in Sri Lanka.
Early life and education
Born on 23 May 1 ...
.
Meryl Fernando stood for working class
- Prof Tissa Vitharana (Daily News), Retrieved 01 November 2015
LSSP(R) later disintegrated in internal strife. A source of discontent was the issue of parliamentary tactics. On December 3, 1964, the parliamentary fraction of LSSP(R) voted alongside the right-wing United National Party
The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...
and dissidents of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party for an amendment to second throne speech of the SLFP-led government. The amendment was passed and the government defeated. The action of the LSSP(R) parliamentarians made V. Karalasingham and the Sakthi fraction leave LSSP(R) and return to the LSSP.
In 1966 Samarakkody started a left opposition against Bala Tampoe and the rest of the leadership. Samarakkody and his supporters left the LSSP(R) following a Special Conference (18–19 April 1968) and formed the Revolutionary Samasamaja Party. The 1969 World Congress of the Fourth International appointed a Ceylon Commission to discuss with both Samarakkody's group and the LSSP (R), but was unable to resolve the differences.
A Healyite splinter group, formed amongst students in 1968, is now called the Socialist Equality Party.
LSSP(R) published ''Fight'' (around 1966) and ''Samasamajist'' (1968-1970) in 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 ...
.
References
External links
* Edmund Samarakkody
The Struggle for Trotskyism in Ceylon
{{Sri Lankan political parties
1964 establishments in Ceylon
Communist parties in Sri Lanka
Defunct political parties in Sri Lanka
Fourth International (post-reunification)
Political parties established in 1964
Political parties in Sri Lanka
Trotskyist organisations in Sri Lanka