Anura Kumara Dissanayaka says, JVP never a third force but an alternative one

By Zahrah Imtiaz-February 5, 20 ! "he ne# leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna $JVP%, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, said the JVP #as never a third force in the country, but an alternative force& '(t #as the media #hich branded us as a third force but #e never said that #e #ere the third force,) he said& *+cer,ts from the intervie#./oma#ansa Amarasin0he has handed over the leadershi, to you& 1ou are the third leader of the ,arty & 2hat are your ,lans to take ,arty to a victory3 A- At the last JVP convention held on the 2 February, #e a,,roved many chan0es in the ,arty & 2e also have a ne# central #orkin0 committee& 2e have realised that there are many small scale ,rotests in the country #hich start but soon fade a#ay& "hou0h these are 0ood startin0 ,oint, it #ill not brin0 victory to the ,eo,le& "hus, #e have decided to establish centres around the country to mobilise ,eo,le into cohesive units, #hich can fi0ht for the ri0hts of the ,eo,le& "he 4a5a,aksa 0overnment has in the 0uise of democracy cheated and #on small scale elections, #hich have stabili6ed their ,o#er, but no lon0er is the ,eo,les7 #ishes e+,ressed throu0h elections& "hus, a committee called the 8*lection Front7 #as established to hel, increase our voter base& 2e have also #orked on a manifesto #hich #ill hel, rebuild this country and #e are #orkin0 on a ,ro0ramme to take it to the ,eo,le& "he 9entral 2orkin0 9ommittee #ill also be #orkin0 on stren0thenin0 the ,arty 7s or0ani6ation ca,acity& ./ince :;5, the JVP slo0ans have been 8anti<im,erialism7 and 8nationalism7, but no# the 4a5a,aksa 0overnment has taken a#ay these slo0ans from you& As a result you have failed electorally and you no lon0er en5oy the same level of su,,ort you #ere once used to3 A- "hat is true& 2e do have a decrease in our voter base& (n :;5, the ,arty #as built on national unity, fairness and e=uality, but it could not #ork because of the ca,italistic system #hich had ruled this country for so lon0& >ut #hat have #e 0ained from it3 "he #orld had a ma5or revolution in technolo0y, arts and culture but our country has not e+,erienced any of that& "he ,resent 0overnment has brou0ht us heroin, ethanol, and various other vices instead of technolo0y and kno#led0e& ?ur country is also

heavily in debt due to the 0overnment& "he ,resent situation is@ a child han0s himself because he has no shoes to 0o to school, a mother and her children fall sick after eatin0 bitter 0ourd continuously because they did not have food to eat and another mother commits suicide alon0 #ith her children& "his is #hat our current 0overnment has left us #ith& Aence, #e need a ma5or societal chan0e to move the country for#ard& As a ,arty #e have faced many challen0es ,ersonally but #hen the country broke do#n due to communal divisions, #e made certain decisions #hich #ere unfortunate for the ,arty, but in the 0reater interest of the country& ?ur voter base mi0ht have decreased but #e still have the stron0est "eachers7 Bnions, /tudents7 Bnions, Farmers7 Bnions and #e are #orkin0 on stren0thenin0 our 1outh Bnions& 2e ho,e to nurture dedicated, coura0eous ,eo,le #ho can look beyond the short<term ,olitics of this 0overnment and su,,ort us& "his is #hat #e are buildin0& .Follo#in0 u, on #hat you said, this country has an a0ein0 ,o,ulation and if you only rely on the su,,ort of the youth alone, you #ill not be able to come to ,o#er& 1ou need to come u, #ith a strate0y #hich #ould attract others too& From :;5< :CC the ,arty mainly de,ended on the youth, es,ecially those #ho #ere attracted to the charisma of 4ohana 2i5e#eera& 2imal 2eera#ansa succeeded in attractin0 the youth to certain e+tent and no# you too are tryin0 to do that& >ut, if you continue alon0 this ,ath #ithout a chan0e in ideolo0y even #ith a chan0e in leadershi,, you mi0ht never be able to 0et any ,o#er3 A- ( admit that #e cannot brin0 about social chan0e #ith 5ust the youth& >ut #e think that the youth in our society are an im,ortant com,onent of chan0e& 2hen societal chan0e is needed, the #orkin0 class and the farmers are very im,ortant& 2e are turnin0 our attention to#ards them to be able to #in and our ,arty ,ro0rammes are aimed at #innin0 the su,,ort of all these ,eo,le& ( admit that our a,,eal has been stron0er in certain classes #hile other classes have not acce,ted us as much& >ut no# #e are #orkin0 on a unifyin0 ,ro0ramme to brin0 all these classes to0ether& 2hen it comes to moderni6in0 the ,arty , #hat do #e ,ossess currently3 ?ur members are selfless& 2e don7t need to chan0e that& "he manifesto #e have come u, #ith #ill touch five key areas& Ao# can a democracy function #hen so much ,o#er is vested in one man3 Po#ers should be shared in a democracy so #e ,lanned to 0et rid of the e+ecutive ,residency& Dedia, Public institutions, *lections 9ommission, Police and 9ourts should be 0overned inde,endently& 2e #ill brin0 in a set of ,ro,osals to ensure that& 2& "he human resource E Ao# do #e rebuild our country3 2e do not have a lot of natural resources like oil and metal so #hat is our best resource3 (t is our human

resource& ?ur economic foundation thus should be ,ro0rammes to develo, the human resource of our ,eo,le& Aence more resources have to be divested in im,rovin0 education, health, s,ort and technolo0y #hich #ill lead to more =ualified and fit ,eo,le& F& A modern and industriali6ed nation E ?ur country has not benefitted from any of the technolo0ical advances in the #orld& /o ho# do #e include ne# technolo0y into our industries3 Fisheries, a0riculture, small and medium scale industries, they have no ne# technolo0y& 2e im,ort everythin0 at ,resent- the tractor used to ,lou0h the field, the ,esticide, the fertili6er, the seed, the machines needed to harvest the 0rain and even the sack used to carry the 0rain& /o #hat do #e ,roduce3 2e have to build more industriali6ed sectors& !& A 5ust society E "he la# has to a,,ly to all and it should be a,,lied e=ually& 5& A man #ith di0nity E "oday a man has to be0 and de0rade himself in front of ,oliticians to 0et anythin0 done& "o admit his child to school, to lod0e a com,laint at the ,olice station and it even e+tends to the co#ardly manner in #hich he talks& 2e need to become those #ho are ,roud of themselves, those #ho can stand on their o#n t#o feet and are an e+am,le to their family and society& "hese are the main areas #e #ould be concentratin0 on& "hus, #e do not re,resent the ,ast but the future& Bnfortunately, #e have been ,ortrayed as a ,eo,le #ho are very traditional@ as ones #ho #ant to #ear a loin cloth and live in a cave& "his is not #hat #e have ,ro5ected& (t is our enemies #ho have ,ortrayed us as such& 2e do not believe in that, #e believe that #e need to ada,t #ith the times and move to#ards a modern and scientific future& ./ince the ince,tion of the ,arty , 4ohana 2i5e#eera led t#o revolutions but they failed& "hereafter the ,arty #as resurrected by /oma#ansa Amarasin0he and you no# have to rebuild the ,arty& 1our manifesto ho#ever, #hich sounds 0reat in theory, is not very ,ractical& (t has never been acce,ted by the ma5ority of the ,eo,le and neither has it 0one throu0h to them& "he ,eo,le have al#ays stuck #ith the t#o main ,arties, the BGP and the /HFP& 1our voter base is 5ust 5I& >ased on this, #ill the ,eo,le acce,t your ne# manifesto3 A- A ,arty, ideolo0ically, should never be at a ,lace #here the ma5ority ,eo,le are, it should be ahead of them& >ut traditionally the ,olitical ,arties in the country ,lay to the 0allery& "hat is #hy you 0et all sorts of candidates contestin0 the elections these days and you 0et thu0s to drive the ,oint& /uch ,o,ular ,olitics cannot take ,eo,le for#ard& 2e are tryin0 to brin0 in a ,olitical ideolo0y #hich is ahead and is somethin0 to as,ire to and that is #hy #e have survived so lon0&

(n :;5 4ohana 2i5e#eera and seven others, #ho #ere little kno#n at the time, met in a small room to discuss the creation of a ,olitical ,arty & 2i5e#eera #as 22 years then and #as #orkin0 at a time #hen the rulin0 ,arty #as all ,o#erful and the 0reats of the leftist ,arties #ere more e+,erienced than him, and yet he ,ro,osed startin0 a ,arty & Ae suffered immensely to achieve this 0oal& "hey did not eat much, #alked every#here to cam,ai0n so that they could save the little money the ,arty had collected& "hat is ho# our ,arty #as formed& (n :J , the 0overnment feared this ,arty and they started ,ersecutin0 its members& 2e #ere faced #ith the choice of fi0htin0 or the ,ossibility of bein0 destroyed& 2e chose to fi0ht& 2e did not surrender& 2e lost and over 0,000 #ere killed and our leaders arrested& (n :CF, J&4&Jaya#ardene7s 0overnment ,ersecuted us and yet a0ain #e chose to fi0ht& A #hole 0eneration #as lost and the ,arty #as almost #i,ed out& >ut then #e came back a0ain in ::! and contested the ,arliamentary elections& "here have been small incidents since then but our Party has ,roved itself resilient des,ite all the challen0es faced& "he challen0e #e face today is not a sim,le one& (t is not about re,lacin0 one 0overnment #ith another& (t is easy to re,lace somethin0 bad #ith another bad thin0, or to 0ive somethin0 bad instead of a 0ood& >ut it is hard to re,lace a bad thin0 #ith somethin0 0ood& "hus, #e have to chan0e the #hole fabric of society, not 5ust the 0overnment& *ven today #e are the voice of the ,eo,le& 2hen there is a ,roblem in a 0overnment office, #ho do you think they a,,roach3 (f there is a ,roblem in the school, #ho do they 0o to3 2ho do you think the ,eo,le acce,t as a Party of action3 (t is the JVP& 2e are in the hearts of the ,eo,le thou0h it has not turned into votes& "he ,eo,le do think #e are relevant but #e have to find a #ay to turn this into votes at an election& "his is a challen0e& 2e are #orkin0 on this& .1ou admitted that many ,references have not turned into votes and it is true that the JVP is a,,roached #hen there is an issue but #hat is your strate0y to turn them into votes3 (s not your manifesto too theoretical3 A- Go #e ,ractise ,olitics in a ,ractical manner& 2hen a ,eo,le are used to a certain #ay, they think everythin0 else is im,ossible& A lot of ,eo,le #ere sur,rised that a ,erson #ho #as once a leader of the ,arty had a0reed to #ork in a committee under a ,erson #ho he had trained himself& >ut our leader did that& "hat is the JVP& 2e are not a ,arty #hich is confined to the traditional model of society, #e think beyond that& "hus certain thin0s certainly #ould be unbelievable and im,ractical until it is done& ?ur ,roblem at ,resent is, ho# are #e to build our o#n ima0e in ,ublic beyond the various misconce,tions #hich have been #oven around us& "hey think #e are una,,roachable, and violent ,eo,le, but these are all manufactured ,ro,a0anda by

our enemies& .2hen Ganda Kunathilaka and 2imal 2eera#ansa broke a#ay, they said that /oma#ansa is ada,table and youn0 at heart but the #eakness in the Party lies in its members7 inability to move beyond its conventional and outdated ideolo0y& As a ne# leader, you have to be ahead of /oma#ansa and you need a ,lan of your o#n to take the Party for#ard& 2hat are your ,lans3 A- (n leftist ,arties there are different vie#s #ithin the ,arty #hich are discussed unlike other ,arties& (n other ,arties, it is the leader #ho decides all and he leads the ,eo,le like cattle& "hat is not the case #ith leftist ,arties around the #orld& (n 2005, Gandana and 2eera#ansa su00ested that the ,arty could be revolutionised by 5oinin0 hands #ith the 4a5a,aksa 0overnment and #orkin0 in their ministries& >ut no leftist ,arty has brou0ht about societal chan0e by 5oinin0 hands #ith a ca,italistic 0overnment& /o, #ho is conventional and outmoded3 "hey have settled for ,etty thin0s like ministries #hich ,aint houses& "he main feature of a revolutionary ,arty is rene#in0 oneself and the ,arty from time to time, like a clay #hich can be moulded to fit the situation& 2e have chan0ed as a ,arty over time, from revolutionary ,olitics to mainstream democracy as the ,olitical situation chan0ed& "hou0h ,eo,le call us ,uritanical, #e have chan0ed and #e are ,re,ared to chan0e& .in ::!, you had one ,arliamentary seat, in 200 you had ;, thereafter FC and no# you are limited to seven& >ut these victories #ere #on throu0h coalitions& 2hatever you do, if you do not #in ,o#er in 0overnment you #ill fade a#ay 5ust like the other leftist ,arties& (t is your res,onsibility to chan0e thin0s around, #hat is your strate0y to #in the votes of the ,eo,le3 A- 2e do not believe that the ,eo,le7s #ishes are ,ortrayed throu0h 4a5a,aksa7s election victories& At ,resent there is a lot of resentment to#ards the 0overnment but at the ,ollin0 station, votes are #on throu0h fear and corru,tion& >ut, you are ri0ht, a ,olitical ,arty 7s stren0th is 5ud0ed by ho# many seats they have in 0overnment thus #e cannot leave the election field& "he establishment of our *lection Front #ill 0reatly hel, us boost our voter base& (f you are askin0 me if it involves the BGP, the ans#er is definitely not& .(n the last Provincial 9ouncil elections, the JVP #hich #as a third force #as ,ushed to fourth ,lace and /arath Fonseka, #ho #as #ith you at the start, mana0ed to 0arner more votes3 (t is ,redicted that the same #ould ha,,en at the ne+t election to be held in Darch3

A- 2e never said #e #ere the third force, it #as the media #ho said that and no# it is the media #hich is sayin0 that #e are no lon0er the third force& 2e are not the third force, #e are the alternative force& 2e acce,t that Fonseka fared better than us but the Fonseka ,henomenon is short lived& "here have been many like him before #ho have come and 0one& "hey have no ,olitical ideolo0y to survive for lon0& (n :CJ, 9handrika too made a se,arate faction #ith many ,o#erful characters in the /HFP, but t#o years later they disa,,eared and re5oined the ,arty & "hen the BGP had the Halith<Kamini Peramuna, #hich too did not last very lon0, they re5oined the BGP& "hen #e had the JAB #ith all the monks, in t#o years they 5oined the 0overnment& "hus the Fonseka ,henomenon too is a ,olitical bubble #hich #ill soon 5oin either of the t#o main ,olitical ,arties& Fonseka is not a challen0e to us& .A lot of ,eo,le #ho su,,orted the BGP are disillusioned but do you think that if the BGP 0ets a ne# leader, this #ould be a ma5or threat to the voter base you are tryin0 to attract3 A- "he crisis in the BGP is not a leadershi, crisis& (t is #hat they as a ,arty that has been ,ro5ected& "he crisis really is that their ,olicies are bein0 im,lemented by the current 0overnment, so then #hy do #e need the BGP3 "he BGP has no ,roblem #ith the ,olicies of the 0overnment, it is #ith their e+ecution that they find fault& *ven the BGP ,oliticians in Parliament say that the 0overnment is im,lementin0 their ,olicies& "hus, 5ust because the BGP chan0es its leader, it #ill not be able to revive the ,arty , the only thin0 left to do for them is to 5oin the 0overnment, most BGPers are in the 0overnment any#ay& .2ill you ,lan to take over the 0overnment durin0 your time as leader3 A- 1es definitely, #e #ill revive our voter base and 0ain control of the 0overnment& 2e are a ,arty and ,eo,le #ho have a very ,ositive outlook and #e seek to #in& ."he youth of today are not the same as that of :CC& "he urban youth today are obsessed #ith other thin0s a,art from ,olitics, even at the rural level, they are movin0 to the city for a bri0hter future& At the famers7 unions, you have a0ein0 farmers, not youn0 farmers& Ao# #ill you deal #ith the youth of today3 A- 1ou are ri0ht& "he youn0 man today may have chan0ed his a,,earance, lifestyle and e+,ectations but even today he is faced #ith the same ,roblems as the youn0 man of :CC& Ae has limited avenues to make an income, he cannot find a 5ob #hich

he is =ualified for, his e+,ectations and ho,es have fallen short of reality, #hat he ho,es for may have chan0ed #ith time, but the result is the same& 1oun0 ,eo,le today ho#ever, have very little interest in ,olitics& "his is a conse=uence of the o,en economy started in :JJ& /o #e need to take ,olitics to them, our 1outh Front #ith the leadershi, of >imal 4atnayake is doin0 that no# and he is #orkin0 on ,ro0rammes #hich #ill a,,eal to them& .1ou launched the 89he 4ide7 #ith the leadershi, of >imal 4atnayake to attract the youth, but those #ho turned u, for it #ere e+istin0 JVPers, and #ere su,,orted by JVPers, you #ere not able to attract youth #ho have no ,olitical inclinations& "he e+istin0 JVPer is very committed but #hat is your ,lan to attract the youn0 middle class3 Do you think that you can market iconic fi0ure like 9he to attract these ,eo,le3 A- 2e #ere not marketin0 the symbol of 9he& 2e #anted to ,romote his =ualities- his dedication to the cause, his coura0e and heroism& 9he is a symbol #ho can a,,eal to the youth in any country, #e #anted to tell the ,eo,le, come let us think like 9he, let us act like 9he and let us become him& 1ou are ri0ht thou0h, #e have not been able to attract this lar0e youth fraction to us, but do not you think that #e can only achieve that throu0h our o#n youth3 "his is 5ust a be0innin0 but #e ho,e to reach the youth of all classes& 2e need to #ork on attractin0 more youth to the Party & .(n countries like Kreece and /candinavia, old leftist ,arties have rene#ed themselves and mana0ed to increase their voter base& 2ill you be learnin0 from them3 A- 1es& 2e are in contact #ith them& ?ur youth front is also takin0 ,art in the 2orld 1outh Festival and #e discuss and e+chan0e ideas #ith leftist ,arties around the #orld& .Auman ri0hts, media freedom, racial and reli0ious discrimination, #hat are your ,lans to deal #ith all that3 A- "his country is made u, of all races, /inhala, Duslim, Dalay, >ur0her and "amil, #ho are all ,art of the country& (t is irrelevant #here anyone came from& All are born here, they live here, ,artici,ate in the country7s economy and then die here& 2here they came from only belon0s to history not our ,resent& 2e do not need a divided country so #e need a Party #hich #ill unite all& "he /inhala nationalists think #e ,romote "amil nationalism and vice versa but #e stand for the ri0hts of all& "o have racial discrimination, one race must declare itself su,erior to the other& /inhala nationalism fuels "amil nationalism and #hen a "amil nationalist fi0hts back,

he ,rovoke /inhala nationalism& ?ne cannot survive #ithout the other& 2hen 4a5a,aksa ,romotes /inhala nationalism, the "GA re,lies #ith "amil nationalism, neither are beneficial& 2e are #orkin0 to move beyond these ,etty nuances& .2ill you 5oin any coalition in future3 A- Go& ?ur coalition is only #ith the ,eo,le& .Peo,le fear that the JVP #ill 0o back to its revolutionary #ays as it is not doin0 so #ell democratically3 A- 2e never chose the revolutionary ,ath& (t #as a reaction a0ainst the 0overnment7s ,olicy to eradicate us& 2e have al#ays tried to come to ,o#er democratically, but #e ke,t 0ettin0 ,ushed into a revolution& 2e had to fi0ht then& Bntil the very last, #e #ill be true to the democratic ,ath and e+,erience tells all that revolutions do not turn out #ell& "he #orld too has chan0ed, ,eo,le have moved on, and ( do not think at this 5uncture in /ri Hankan ,olitics that #e #ill ever 0o for a revolution& ."hey say that thou0h 4anil 2ickremesin0he is the ?,,osition Header, you are the one #ho carries out his 5ob& >ut accordin0 to JVP ,olicy, the leader or 0eneral secretary does not 0o to Parliament& 2ill you be attendin0 Parliament no#3 A- ?ur 9onstitution says that only the 0eneral secretary #ill not attend Parliament, but the ,arty has decided that ( #ill be attendin0& .2hen there #as an announcement that a chan0e is to be e+,ected in the JVP, ,eo,le thou0ht that there #ill be s#ee,in0 chan0es every#here, but only the leadershi, chan0ed, #hy is that3 A- 2e discussed these chan0es three months a0o but our members #ere disci,lined enou0h not to reveal any decision& 2e have made =uite a fe# chan0es, for e+am,le #e brou0ht Halkantha to 9olombo and #e made many chan0es in the administration of the ,arty & "hou0h it #as the chan0e in leadershi, #hich #as ,ublici6ed the most, there #ere other im,ortant chan0es& Dany said that there #ere ,o#er stru00les #ithin the ,arty but #e have no such ,roblems, #e are very united and #e make decisions to0ether&