Monday, 20 April 2015 00:01
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Last week’s surprise departure of Somawansa Amarasinghe from the JVP - a political party to which the former leader had channelled the majority of his life’s work towards - left many scratching their heads in confusion as they pondered the significance of such an event.
Explaining his rationale for such a sudden departure, Amarasinghe had expressed frustration at the JVP’s failure to capitalise on the “golden opportunities” presented to them following political shake-ups in the wake of the Rajapaksa regime’s defeat at the last presidential election. Chief among the failures of his former party according to Amarasinghe was the failure to promote swift action against an “anti-government conspiracy” following the announcement of election results on 9 January.
When a leading Sri Lankan economist was asked about his projections for national politics, he quipped that no projections could ever be made about a political system in which a Marxist party like the JVP could turn itself around to fight for the rights of the private sector against the implementation of a Super-Gains Tax. It would appear that his thinking has thus been given further vindication in the form of a one-time violent revolutionary criticising the Government for inaction against a conspiracy for violent revolution.
However, leaving aside the fact that Amarasinghe is both uniquely qualified and disqualified to speak on the proper handling of an anti-government conspiracy, it is important to note that the position being staked out by Amarasinghe appears to be prima facie, an anti-Rajapaksa stance.
A further point of interest in this developing story is Amarasinghe’s stated aim of forming a “true left” political party with the goal of establishing a socialist model in Sri Lanka. Assuming that such a socialist utopia will not be birthed by Amarasinghe’s new party at the next general election; based purely on logistical considerations, what then can we make of a move by a Marxist with the credentials of Somawansa Amarasinghe establishing a new political party at all?
In a recent interview, Amarasinghe questioned why the JVP should be content with 10 or 20 seats in Parliament, why can’t it lead instead he argues. Certainly it is possible that we take the word of Somawansa Amarasinghe on its face value: that a life-long Marxist would look back at a political career spanning 47 years and yet feel that his greatest achievements are still ahead of him.
Indeed, while socialism has been roundly mocked as an impractical system of governance, it is also true that the “business-friendly” UNP started rebranding itself in order to phase out a purely capitalist doctrine and instead move towards “a highly competitive social market economy” with a strong focus on resolving wealth inequality.
Or perhaps our more cynical readers will view this as an attempt to split the leftist vote in order to ensure that whatever resistance to the see-saw of a two-party democratic system is not drastically upset in the upheavals to come. The JVP has already stated that they are working to bring comrade Amarasinghe back into the fold therefore only time will tell what lies in wait for the Sri Lankan left.
