Viplavakari Lanka Sama Samaja Party (Revolutionary Ceylon Equal Society Party, Sinhala; විප්ලවකාරි ලංකා සමසමජ පක්ෂය) was a political group in

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 ...

, that broke away from the Trotskyist

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� ...

, since

Philip Gunawardena Don Philip Rupasinghe Gunawardena (11 January 1901 – 26 March 1972) 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 Trotskyi ...

(one of the principal LSSP leaders) refused to reconcile with the

Bolshevik Samasamaja Party The Bolshevik Samasamaja Party was the Ceylon section Bolshevik-Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and Burma (BLPI) after 1945 and of the Fourth International in 1948-1950, after the dissolution of the BLPI. After the war there was a split in the Lan ...

. When the BSP and LSSP fused in 1950, Gunawardena split to form VLSSP. In 1952 VLSSP entered into an electoral alliance with the

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 the parliamentary elections that year, VLSSP won one seat (represented by Gunawardena's wife, Kusumasiri Gunawardena). Philip Gunawardena lead the Viplavakari Lanka Sama Samaja Party (VLSSP) since 1951 and as constituent party formed the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP, Peoples’ United Front) in 1956 under the leadership of Mr.

SWRD Bandaranaike Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike ( si, සොලොමන් වෙස්ට් රිජ්වේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායක; ta, சாலமன் வெஸ்ட் ரிட்ஜ்வே டயஸ் ப� ...

to form the first people’s government in 1956 General Election. At that election, VLSSP won five seats in the parliament as part of MEP. Philip Gunawardena became the Minister of Agriculture, Food, & Co-operatives and his party colleague P. J. William de Silva became the Minister of Fisheries & Industries. They served as a key members of the Cabinet of SWRD Bandaranaike. But the presence of the leftist VLSSP in the government irritated the rightist sections of SLFP, who maneuvered VLSSP out through a series of intrigues. MEP fell apart and the government was defeated. In 1959 VLSSP was disbanded and Gunawardena reorganized his party with the name

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 ...

. His new party was however not a Trotskyist formation. VLSSP should not be confused with

Lanka Sama Samaja Party (Revolutionary) Lanka Sama Samaja Party (Revolutionary) was a Trotskyist political party in Sri Lanka, formed in 1964 when the Lanka Sama Samaja Party was expelled from the Fourth International. LSSP(R) was constituted by the ideological hardliners who opposed LS ...

, which was a later splinter group of LSSP.

References

{{authority control 1950 establishments in Ceylon 1959 disestablishments in Ceylon Defunct political parties in Sri Lanka Political parties established in 1950 Political parties disestablished in 1959 Political parties in Sri Lanka Trotskyist organisations in Sri Lanka