HISTORY IS NOT A GREAT WALL
AGAINST THE FUTURE !
QESTION: What is the the present reality of the attempt taken by the JVP to establish a unity among leftist organizations in Sri Lanka?
ANSWER:First our political bureau, considering the the current political developments, decided to create a unity within the Sri Lankan leftist movement. So we started preliminary discussions with some of the leftist organizations. Organizations such as Nawa Sama Samaja Party without hesitation have agreed about such a unity. We must stress that they have expressed their fullest cooperation for the unity.
QUESTION: What would be the nature of this unity?
ANSWER:Actually this kind of a unity cannot be defined in simple form. It has to be recognized within its complicated reality. So the nature of this unity will be determined by the duty it has to complete. What is the political environment that determine the duty and responsibility of this new leftist unity?
We have experienced that the govt is continuously engage in anti-democratic activity. There are seperate occasional protests against the malpractices of govt. Since these protests are lack of organized uniformity, the pressure it thrust on the capitalist govt is less effective. So we can define this new collectivity as a simplest unity to lead such people's protests against govt's anti democratic practice.
If intends to go beyond, in the 50 years of Sri Lankan parliamentary history the traditional leftist parties took part in replacing capitalist govts instead of establishing a leftist govt. They joined with captalist fronts instead of unifying the working class. But this new unity is completely different from those experiences. This will be purely a unity of leftist organizations. The importance of such an organized leftist unity is that it can be a centre for the people who wishes on a leftist govt in Sri Lanka. This collective organization will provide with the space even for various progressive organizations. So beyond our concepts it can become a broader scale unity which fulfill the necessities of the Sri Lankan politics. The extent of contribution by each member in the unity will determine the efficiency of its movement. We are ready to do our best begining at the simplest point. According to the experiences working in this unity we will be able to take steps with complicated objectives. Such experiences by and by will enable us to form a stronger unity among the honest leftists in Sri Lanka.
QUESTION: Some of these organizations joined with capitalist UNP regime during the 89 suppression. Won't that be a problem to get involved with them in this unity?
ANSWER:Afterall we are not risen from death. We all can remember various incidents in the past. But all of us here in this unity are bound by a duty which we must perform for the sake of our people. So we may not have to take such memories as barriers for that duty. We believe that in the politics there are not permanant enemies or friends. These organizations we speak of are not capitalist class organizations. So they are not our enemies.
Ideaological differences will be the only distance among us. It is not difficult for us to work together towards a common destiny. The other thing is we don't believe that each and every political organizations as unchangeable stubborn structures. We ourselves are changing according to past experiences. So we do not think that history is a great wall against the future !
And also this collectivity cannot be defined as opportunism since it has not betrayed proletarian objectives for the success of capitalist objectives. Our attempt also encourages the freedom of the leftist parties that are chained with capitalist politics. If we are successful they may see their mistakes and join with us. So it will not be an opportunistic attempt. Then those who were used against the JVP as you said can be used to form a leftist front in the struggle against capitalism. This simple point can be considred as a great victory for our people.
QUESTION: Some important issues, specifically the National Question is defined with different views by different leftist organizations. Do you think this won't matter ?
ANSWER: As I said earlier there are various type of ideological differences. One is as you said the National Question. But even within these differences if the attempt is honest, we don't see any barrier to fight for the common destiny that all the leftists share. It is our motto to work for the benefit of the people. The differences among the member organizations of the unity are caused by the ideological differences. Each organizations have their own definitions and ideological positions. If they shared the same ideological foundation there will be no doubt of their existance in a single organization. Our attempt is not for uniting them in a single party. (If we can, that's better) But the best thing for us to do in the present political reality is getting together for our common objectives rather than staying in seperate ideological solitudes. It is a necessity for the members of this unity to tolerate with such ideological problems which could disturb the united actions of our common destiny. We believe that all the members will be able to understand that.
If we can take the matters of people's rights in the first place of our agenda despite the ideological differences that devotion and honest attempt will be successful.
QUESTION: There had been several united fronts which contributed by leftists in the history. But none of them ended up with success. How do you certify a success for this united action ?
ANSWER: It is true that the united fronts existed in the history ended up with conflicts. That is the reason for doubts in our society on the success of a unity of leftist organizations. But before launching our attempt for a unity in the left, we had a careful study of those experiences. That will enable us much in the successful mobility of the unity we called for. We have as a result of that study changed ourselves even within our own organization. If the other members try to do the same, no problem will arise. We are ready to do our best for such a unity.
QUESTION: What can be outlined as the minimum and maximum levels of the objectives for this process of united action ?
ANSWER: As I stated before, the minimum effort will be to organise united struggles for the people's common problems. There will be picket lines, demonstrations and protest rallies organized within the capacity of this united leftist organization. Each member organization may contribute them according to their strength. This can be a simple unity.
But our maximum objective will be to establish a leftists center which will work for the victory of a leftist govt. This will be successful according to the extent of the victory we achieve in the preliminary stage. In the process of the movement there can be changes occur within the unity. It can be and will be shaped according to the contemporary socio-political needs. However we have to hold optimistic feelings at the begining. We believe that this attempt will bring about so much victories for the people of Sri Lanka.