The Communist Party of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කොමියුනිස්ට් පක්ෂය, ''Sri Lankavay Komiyunist Pakshaya'' ta, இலங்கை கம்யூனிஸ்ட் கட்சி, translit=Ilankai Komyunist Katche) is a

communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. In the 2004 legislative election, the party was part of the

United People's Freedom Alliance The United People's Freedom Alliance ( abbreviated UPFA; si, එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානය ''Eksath Janathā Nidahas Sandānaya''; ta, ஐக்கிய மக்கள் சுதந்திரக ...

that won 45.6% of the popular vote and 105 out of 225 seats.

History

The CPSL was founded as the Communist Party of

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

in 1943 and was a continuation of the United Socialist Party. The USP had been formed out of the Marxist–Leninist wing of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party. The USP was proscribed by the colonial authorities. The USP and then the CPC was initially led by Dr. S. A. Wickramasinghe. In 1952 Wickremesinghe's wife, the English-born

Doreen Young Wickremasinghe Doreen Wickremasinghe (''née'' Young;15 February 1907 – 29 May 2000) was a British leftist who became a prominent Communist politician in Sri Lanka and a Member of Parliament (MP). She was one of the handful of European Radicals in Sri Lank ...

, a former leader of the Suriya-Mal Movement, was elected to the

Sri Lankan parliament The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ''Shri Lanka Parlimenthuwa'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் ''Ila� ...

. In 1963 the Communist Party, Lanka Sama Samaja Party and the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna formed the United Left Front (1963). The ULF broke down in 1964 when the then Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike offered ministerial posts to LSSP and the CP. In the mid-1960s the

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

estimated the party membership to be approximately 1900. In 1968, the CP joined the LSSP and the SLFP in the

United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political ...

. In the 1970 government, Pieter Keuneman became Minister of Housing and Construction and

B. Y. Tudawe Balaupasakage Yasodis Tudawe (25 September 1915 – 22 January 2000) was a Sri Lankan communist politician. He was a member of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka, serving two terms as a member of parliament and one term as Deputy Minister ...

, Deputy Minister of Education. However, one faction of the party, led by S. A. Wickremasinghe and Indika Gunawardena, maintained a line of critical support for the government. After the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

of 1977, for the first time in half a century, the CPSL found itself without parliamentary representation, receiving about 2% of the vote. However, after a subsequent election petition, Sarath Muttetuwegama was elected to the Kalawana seat in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to ...

. Later CPSL joined the People's Alliance, the front led by the

Sri Lanka Freedom Party The Sri Lanka Freedom Party ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය, translit=Śrī Laṁkā Nidahas Pakṣaya; ta, இலங்கை சுதந்திரக் கட்சி, translit=Ilaṅkai Cutantirak Ka� ...

. When SLFP shelved the PA and formed the

together with

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP; ) is a Marxist–Leninist communist party and a former militant organization in Sri Lanka. The movement was involved in two armed uprisings against the government of Sri Lanka: once in 1971 (SLFP), and anothe ...

ahead of the

2004 elections 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

, CPSL and LSSP initially stayed out. They did, however, sign a memorandum with the UPFA at a later stage and contested the elections on the UPFA platform. CPSL does not, however, consider itself a member of UPFA. The CPSL had one member of parliament in 2004, party general secretary D.E.W. Gunasekara. Gunasekara expected to become the speaker of the Sri Lankan parliament but lost by a handful of votes. Gunasekara was then sworn in as the Minister for Constitutional Affairs. During the 2020 Parliamentary elections, the CPSL put forward two candidates, Mahesh Almedia in Colombo and Weerasumana Weerasinghe in Matara, under the SLPP's Pohottuwa symbol. Dr G. Weerasinghe was nominated for the party's National List. Weerasumana was the only candidate to successfully enter Parliament with 77,968 preferential votes. Gunasekera stepped down as General Secretary of the CPSL on 30 August 2020. Dr G. Weerasinghe was unanimously elected as the new General Secretary by the Central Committee.

Party organization

The youth wing of CPSL is the Communist Youth Federation. CYF is a member organization of the World Federation of Democratic Youth.

Allegations

The CPSL and other Leftist parties were framed by the J R Jayawardane government for instigating 1983 Black July pogroms against the Tamil people. The party was banned and leaders including D.E.W. Gunasekera were imprisoned for over a year. The ban was lifted due to the lack of evidence for the charges and intervention from the Soviet embassy. The ban on the JVP and NSSP stayed the same.

Publications

'' Aththa'' (Truth) is the CPSL's flagship Sinhala newspaper, which was renowned for its high standard of journalism, progressive editorials and Sinhala prose. The

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

organ of the CPSL was the '' Forward'' weekly.

Electoral history

References

External links

Gift from CPSL to the German Socialist Unity Party (SED) in 1976
{{Authority control 1943 establishments in Ceylon Ceylon in World War II Anti-imperialist organizations Communist parties in Sri Lanka Political parties established in 1943 United People's Freedom Alliance Left-wing parties in Sri Lanka International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties