In the presidential election held on September 21, 2024, Anura Kumara Dissanayake
won the presidency by receiving 5,740,179 votes, or 42.3 percent. He will go down in
history as the president who failed to secure 50 percent of the valid votes cast in the
presidential elections since 1982. In this presidential election, Anura Kumara was
able to win 14 of the country’s 22 districts, while Sajith Premadasa won 8 districts.
According to the parliamentary seat results released, Anura was able to win 106
seats, while Sajith won 48 seats, indicating that there is no majority mandate.
Anura Kumara’s victory is one outcome of the struggle that took place in 2022, which
ousted then-President Gotabaya with the slogan "Gota Go Home." This struggle
popularized the idea of sweeping away the corrupt capitalist families that had
plunged Sri Lanka into the most serious crisis in its history. The struggle not only got
rid of the president but also sent all 225 Members of Parliament home.
The people's struggle was an expression of the aspirations of the public against the
destruction caused by neoliberalism. However, there are serious contradictions
between the policies of Anura Kumara’s National People's Power and the policies
demanded by the people’s struggle. The aspirations of that struggle will not bear fruit
under the government of the National People's Power. Nevertheless, another
important factor highlighted by this election result is that the people are now rejecting
the old traditional capitalist politics.
The Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP, the main force behind the NPP) has
repeatedly asserted in the past that it stands for socialist policies. They made
promise after promise, surpassing the commitments of other capitalist candidates.
But very soon, the people will come to understand that the government formed by
Anura is not capable of fulfilling the promises made to the people. It raises serious
questions about whether Anura’s government will be able to at least bring
punishment to the politicians who committed corruption and theft. Will they recover
the stolen money? While Anura may have a short honeymoon period of a few
months, he will ultimately fail to move beyond capitalist measures to implement even
basic socio-economic reforms that the country demands.
It is no secret that Anura Kumara has made agreements with imperialist forces to
continue the neoliberal agenda, including deals with the IMF and the World Bank.
During negotiations with the main capitalist business community during the elections,
he openly promised that the IMF program would continue. In Anura Kumara’s own
words, he stated that he is ready to "walk the rest of the ropeway that Ranil
Wickramasinghe started with the IMF." Ranil Wickramasinghe announced after his
defeat that he would hand over the responsibilities to the new president, Anura
Kumara, to cross the rest of the bridge. Anura Kumara is going to rule the country to
serve the needs of the International Monetary Fund, against the wishes of the people
who put him in power.
Anura Kumara has come to power by presenting a huge series of promises to the
people, and when he fails to fulfill those promises, the mass anger of the people will
erupt in a significant way against his rule. In such an environment, the oppressed
people, including the working class, are bound to engage in class struggle to win their demands. It is the responsibility of the trade union movement and the true left to
provide leadership.
The United Socialist Party presented a series of clear solutions to the socio-
economic and political crisis facing the country in the last presidential election. The
USP advanced demands such as non-repayment of debt, full nationalization of key
sectors such as banks and insurance under democratic workers' control, stopping
the process of selling local resources to neoliberal capitalists, and resolving the
national question based on the right to self-determination. Additionally, employers'
provident funds should be controlled by trade unions and workers. A series of
proposals were made, including the immediate abolishment of the executive
presidency and the establishment of a workers' government to implement a socialist
plan.
We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to the voters who chose us. We
received 8,954 votes, approving the program presented by the United Socialist
Party. It should be specially mentioned that we extend our warm greetings for the
good response received from the people of the north, where we received 1,221
votes, and the response from the people of the east is equally encouraging, with 710
votes. We also request that you join hands with us to face the deep crisis that is
about to emerge and build a serious fight back for the forces of socialism.
United Socialist Party – 09/23/2024
