By Sena Thoradeniya

This is the first article we are contributing to LankaWeb after the recently concluded Presidential Election. Instead of writing a requiem as we thought of before the election, things are in abundance needing analysis in a different perspective. We begin with a quick glance at a few captions selected from some foreign news agencies to show how those news agencies painted Anura Kumara Dissanayake as a Marxist”. Some may think that this is a very trivial matter that does not need any attention, simply ignored. But we should not forget that the local correspondents of these news agencies are Sri Lankans who know very well the reality behind these absurd assertions.And for this writer it is a new window to continue what he had begun!     

Marxist politician leads Sri Lanka’s presidential vote”.

Marxist lawmaker has won Sri Lanka’s presidential election”.

Sri Lanka elect Marxist-leaning Dissanayake as President to fix economy”.

Marxist Anura Kumara Dissanayake sworn in as Sri Lanka’s President”.

A Marxist party in the President’s House”

Sri Lanka’s Marxist President-elect Anura Kumara Dissanayake”.

Self-avowed Marxist Anura Kumara Dissanayake”.

From bullets to ballots: Sri Lanka’s comrade president-elect”

The body of some of these news items contradicts what is inferred by the captions. We select one: In 1971 the JVP launched its first insurrection against the socialist government of Sirima Bandaranaike, the world’s first woman Prime Minister” (our emphasis). Why a Marxist”political party launch an insurrection against a socialist government”? To turn it more Revolutionary”?  Eh!

In our previous articles we have clearly and theoretically expounded that neither the JVP nor the NPP is a Marxist/Socialist entity, digging into its historical roots and its metamorphosis. In our two-part article titled Summarising the Janus-Faced JVP and the Myth of Malimawa” published on 7 September and 14 September 2024 in LankaWeb respectively, we discussed again in greater detail why and how JVP/NPP is not a Marxist party, under the sub-headings JVP/NPP is not a Marxist/ Socialist party” and What ideology Anura Kumara represents?”   It is a pity that our explanations went unheeded.

Hanging portraits of Marx, Engels, Lenin (and of Castro) in Dissanayake’s office and flying a red hammer and sickle flag outside the office as foreign media reported do not make a person Marxist.

What is Marxism and who is a Marxist? To answer this simple question, it is not necessary to immerse oneself in a library comprising works of Karl Marx, Frederick Engels, Vladimir Lenin, J. V. Stalin and Mao Zedong. A cursory glance at the Manifesto of the Communist Party” by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels published in 1848 is enough.

(1)The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles” (2) there are oppressors and oppressed in the class society (3) manufacturer exploits the labourer (4) lower strata of the middle class sinking gradually into the proletariat (5) organization of the proletarians into a  class, and consequently into a political party (6) equal inevitability of the fall of the bourgeoisie and the victory of the proletariat (7) the Communists are practically the most advanced and resolute section of the working class parties, the immediate aim of the Communists is the formation of the proletariat into a class, overthrow of the  bourgeoisie supremacy, conquest of political power by the proletariat, abolition of bourgeois private property,  conversion of capital into common property (8) the Communists disdain to conceal their views  and aim, their aims can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions”, are the most rudimentary things explained in the Manifesto of the Communist Party” .

Are Anura Kumara and his bandwagon NPP advocates of these fundamentals to qualify to become Marxists?  As Stalin put forward in his The Foundations of Leninism” (in Problems of Leninism”) the dictatorship of the proletariat is the instrument of the proletarian revolution. 

If Anura Kumara is a Marxist” in this sense it will send warning singles and shock waves not only to all media men who dub Anura Kumara as a Marxist, columnists, pseudo theorists and journalists who hail Anura Kumara as Comrade Prez”, but also to the NPP bandwagon and Anura Kumara’s newfound friends in the corporate sector.

Anura Kumara and none in his NPP bandwagon, to qualify as Marxists” have never interpreted what they understand by philosophical materialism, dialectics, the materialistic conception of history, Marx’s economic doctrine or socialism.

Lenin said in 1913 that (T)he main thing in the doctrine of Marx is that it brings out the historic role of the proletariat as the builder of a socialist society” (Collected Works 28). Do Anura Kumara and his NPP bandwagon striving to build a socialist society in Sri Lanka? It’s absolute madness even to imagine it!

Wijeweera was the founding father of JVP. His father was a sympathizer of the Ceylon Communist Party who campaigned for Premalal Kumarasiri, the then Hakmana MP, before the split. Wijeweera’s father was brutally assaulted by the UNP goons and incapacitated. In appreciation of his sacrifices to the party, the Ceylon Communist Party sent his teenage son Don Nandasiri Wijeweera to Moscow to study medicine. When he came to Ceylon for a short holiday the Ceylon Communist Party bigwigs prevented him reentry to the USSR. He joined the Youth wing of the Ceylon Communist Party (Peking Wing) and soon expelled from the party for conspiratorial anti-party activities. These observations are not based on hearsay or any other published document; these are this writer’s reminiscences as a party activist.

From its inception in 1965 the JVP was not a Marxist party. It was a party of petti-bourgeoisie consisting of high school and university students, unemployed youth and disgruntled rural plebeians. It was not a party of Bolshevik type, upholding Bolshevik ideology, its organization style and discipline, led by working class, which forged a worker-peasant alliance with the peasantry as its strongest ally, and formed a United Front with all oppressed classes and strata of the society including progressive/ revolutionary intellectuals. Prior to 1971 insurrection the 5 lessons given by the JVP to its raw recruits did not contain even fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism. Those who followed the 5 lessons were sent to special camps for military training. The methods it adopted to capture power, in 1971 were purely based on adventurism, Left” deviationist, ultra” revolutionist tendencies; and in 1988/1989 it turned into pure” militarism, putschist, roving rebel” type and brutal assassinations. JVP condemned and dismissed the notion of protracted struggle – peoples’ war- the tested and victorious strategy more suitable to Asian countries and two – stages of the revolution, New Democratic and Socialist respectively. All its activities were conducted secretly to the masses. The Communists reject to conceal their views and aims to the masses.

We have discussed on many occasions that the NPP is a hotchpotch of bourgeois and petty-bourgeois elements, neo-liberals, anarchists, duplicates of old Russian Narodniks and lately a receptacle of ex- servicemen and ex-policemen. We have categorically stated that the NPP is not a segment of a United Front under the aegis of the JVP. It is the Janus -face of the JVP and how the JVP has rebranded and repositioned it as any other business conglomerate.

The writer does not think that Anura Kumara has read any book on Marxism-Leninism; in his interviews given although he cites some titles of Sinhala novels of some mediocre writers (this writer has broken those novels into pieces in his literary criticisms written in Sinhala), he has not mentioned that he has read even a Sinhala translation describing  Marxist Fundamentals (there are many, including the Sinhala translation of Russian Concise Political Dictionary”, published in 1980).

Anura Kumara has shown his capacity as a parliamentarian and a platform orator, not as a Marxist theoretician or a revolutionary. We are unaware that he has quoted from any Marxist theoretician, that he works according to such a theory or emulates any country. In his orations he has never dwelled on to explain Marxist political economy or used Marxist principles to solve country’s problems.

 If Anura Kumara was a Marxist, he would never become a part of the UNP-TNA led alliance that supported the ex-Army Commander Sarath Fonseka at the 2010 presidential contest and Sirisena in 2015 against the war-winning Mahinda Rajapaksa respectively. In both occasions the US had a hidden hand to destabilise the country. Anura Kumara formed the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) for the 2010 elections and accommodated Sarath Fonseka, Tiran Alles and Arjuna Ranatunga in it (later Alles and Ranatunga became two main targets of NPP); he propped-up Ranil Wickremasinghe’s UNP Yahapalana government in 2018.

Since Anura Kumara has not written and published even a pamphlet we are unaware of his theoretical background or if he was a Marxist” how he has interpreted Marxism-Leninism to suit the concrete conditions of Sri Lanka. A Marxist of any country must have the knack for this. Because of this we are unaware whether he has tried to revise Marxism-Leninism as the Revisionists did from the time of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin and Mao.

Lenin wrote in 1908, that the Marxian doctrine which directly serves to enlighten and organize the advanced class in modern society , indicates the tasks of this class and proves the inevitable replacement of the present system by a new order-no wonder that this doctrine had to fight at every step in its course”. Later Marxism began with a struggle of a trend hostile to Marxism within Marxism”, with the reactionaries who wormed their way into the Party who made amendments to Marx and the revision of Marx (Revisionism). Lenin’s volume, Against Revisionism”, traces Lenin’s consistent and irreconcilable struggle against revisionism, opportunism and dogmatism in the international and Russian labour movement. Leninism originated and developed in irreconcilable struggle against these three trends, against all deviations from revolutionary Marxism in theory and practice.

Mao in his 1957 treatise, On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People” expounded the contradictions that emerge even in the socialist society. This shows the arduous ideological struggle that must be waged even in a socialist society. So Anura Kumara should understand that gaining power, with apologies to Mao is not (attending) a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery, so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous.            

What Anura Kumara has written in his election manifesto? What type of a state, a government he was aiming at? It was a Pohosath Ratak”, euphemisticallya Capitalist Country!  Has he uttered anything about Marxism/Socialism in his public meetings, TV talk shows or press briefings? Never.

Who were the top bosses of corporates who attended Anura Kumara’s swearing-in-ceremony held at the Presidential Secretariat? Many of these are business captains who have dealings with USAID aided projects.

Some of this Marxist” Anura Kumara’s appointments raised eyebrows, appointing people having conflicts of interest, such as Tilak Siyambalapitiya as the Chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), evidently Anura Kumara has become a prisoner of the neo-liberal wing of his own NPP. As quoted by ee Con Con in its latest issue that Siyambalapitiya is also the Managing Director of RMA Energy. His wife Nimalie Siyambalapitiya has been a Director to Development Finance Institutions (ADB, WB, IFC etc.) on the power sector. A sizeable revenue of the company is accrued by providing services related to power sector in Sri Lanka. RMA Energytypically earns US $ 100,000s from these projects annually and likely RMA Energy have running engagements with DFIs even now related to Sri Lanka power sector.  Ee Con Con source queried, did the government negotiate a contract that precludes him/his company from working on projects related to Sri Lanka power sector/CEB for an agreed number of years.

If Anura Kumara is a Marxist, he would never appoint Hanif Yusuf a top businessman as Governor of the Western Province, the key province of Sri Lanka.  Yusuf is the co-founder of multinational logistics giant ExpolankaHoldings, expanded into leisure, IT, fresh and processed produce with businesses in over 39 countries. This shows NPP’s nexus with the business community and corporates, its main funding source. Some of these businesses are linked with the only bank in Sri Lanka which conducts its operations under the principles of Islamic banking”.

It is laughable appointing Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce as a Senior Economic Advisor.  This same person was appointed as an Advisor on tax matters by Ranil Wickremasinghe when he was the President. In the photograph portraying this person receiving the letter of appointment from Anura Kumara, the corporate heads who were with him when he got the letter of appointment from RW can be seen for the second time except Sagala Ratnayake, RW’s so-called national security advisor”! But many of those business captains have hung their coats in their board rooms this time!

As the Chairman of the Litro Gas Ltd, a former CEO/Director of another multinational Aitken Spence Group Garments Ltd, Country Manager for British global accounting giant Ernst and Young in the Maldives was appointed by this Marxist” President!

As the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB), a person who held this position four times from the days of Srimani Athulathmudali (of UNDF or Rajaliya Party) when she was the Transport Minister under CBK, one-time Rajapaksa loyalist, now an NPP electoral organizer was appointed, another example for clientelism or client politics, which NPP vowed to eradicate. 

We will be able to see more drama in the runup for the general elections. These appointments reveal the poverty and paucity of the NPP which boasted of having a resource base of professionals.

In his inaugural address as the President of Sri Lanka, and in his televised address to the nation (on 25/9) Anura Kumara neither mentioned about the old JVP, its history nor the sacrifices it made in 1971 and 1988/1989 respectively. We honour and remember the courageous men and women of previous generations who made sacrifices, some with their lives for this victory. I see this victory and the prosperous nation we aim to build as a tribute to their legacy”. This is a very vague statement, oft-repeated by many politicians in the past belonging to diverse groups. It can be the sacrifices made by our people fighting against foreign powers. There is no mention about the sacrifices of JVP combatants in either 1971 or 1988/1989 respectively, or its leader Wijeweera and the person who built the party after its total annihilation, Somavansa Amerasinghe. If Anura Kumara can erase the history of the JVP with one stroke of the pen(as he read a prepared text) what can you expect from this Marxist” dressed by the foreign media?    

So why the foreign media labelling the new President as a Marxist?

To instill fear? To laugh at NPP? To discredit Marxism globally? To attribute Anura Kumara’s all failures and shortcomings to Marxism? To push him more and more to the US orbit for his survival? To teach a lesson especially to Latin American countries, not to elect Marxist-leaning rulers?

To end this note we quote from Julie Chung’s ‘X’ message posted after her meeting with Anura Kumara on 1 October 2024: As Sri Lanka embarks on a new chapter, the United States remains your stronger partner in supporting unity, good governance, prosperity and human rights”.

Julie Chung was not afraid of meeting a Marxist” President. She says that the United States remains” this Marxist” President’s stronger partner”. Anura Kumara should understand the hidden meaning of this message; US is the stronger partner” than any other power!

Following day Julie Chung met with Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath and Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya respectively. On both occasions Julie Chung had emphasized on working together on shared priorities like security”.

Indian External Affairs Minister Jaishankar is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka on October 4, to call on Anura Kumara, first visit by any Foreign Minister, just two weeks after the election. Indian correspondents have stated that India made a mistake by not meeting Maldivian President-elect Muizzu immediately (it took almost 6 months for the first high level bi-lateral visit) and India and Bangladesh have still not had any bi-lateral visit following the ouster of Sheik Hasina in August. 

A Marxist” cannot be an accomplice of American imperialism and Indian hegemonism.  In our previous articles we have exposed how Anura Kumara has collaborated with American imperialism and Indian hegemonism. This marriage began with appointing Harini Amarasuriya, who represents comprador-bourgeoisie consisting of colonial plantation interests, bankers and multi-national business conglomerates, trained in India and Europe, Yahapalana constitution maker, spokesperson of LGBTIQ community as the National List MP of NPP in 2020. We have stated earlier that there was a possibility of installing Harini Amarasuriya as the President if things went wrong for the NPP at the Presidential election. Appointing Julie Chung’s choice as the Prime Minister over Vijitha Herath who counts over 20 years of experience as a parliamentarian is the culmination of Julie Chung’s strategic plan.

Julie Chung presided over two important episodes in modern Sri Lankan politics, ousting of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and installing Harini Amarasuriya within a space of two years. She can relinquish her duties as the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka as the happiest woman in the world!