Note no. 231	17. 07. 2004
SRI LANKA: Provincial Elections:  JVP on the rise-Update 66. by  Dr.S.Chandrasekharan Significant victory for the JVP. In the just concluded provincial elections, the Alliance of the SLFP (Sri Lanka Freedom Party) and the JVP ( Peoples' Liberation Front- Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna) proved to be a formidable combination in sweeping the polls in all the six provinces. With this victory, President Chandrika Kumaratunge is expected to win over the CWC component of Thondaman, which would give her a clear majority in the Parliament also. What is significant in the current elections is that the JVP has had astounding success in winning 71 of the 73 seats it contested. They had 10 candidates contesting in the Central Province council once considered being the strong hold of UNP, 7 in Uva Province, 23 in Western Province, 10 in Sabaragamuva, 15 in Southern Province and 8 in North Central Province. More significant is that the majority of preference votes in the districts of Gampaha, Hambantota, Matara, Colombo and Tatnapura went to the JVP. The JVP will now have 80 members in the provincial councils with 8 of them already elected in the elections to Wayambu council held three weeks after the general elections in April this year. This time JVP did not seriously contest the provincial elections as it had opposed in principle the formation of the provincial councils. Though their leaders campaigned in all the areas contested, what one noticed was the absence of mass mobilisation before the elections. Very few posters were seen and fewer still were the meetings in connection with the elections. The turnout was considerably low. Just 55 percent of the electorate turned out to vote, one of the lowest since independence in 1948 compared with 76 percent that turned out only three months ago in the April 2 elections. In keeping with their principles, the JVP announced that it would not accept post of chief minister or minister in the newly elected provincial councils.. While the JVP would concede that their spectacular victory is a complete vindication of the UPFA government and their alliance with SLFP, in actual fact these elections have shown that the JVP as a party has emerged as the third political force and will have a larger role to play in the coming years. Previous Provincial council elections:  The JVP contested the provincial elections for the first time in April 1999 when elections were held for five of the provinces. It did not contest the previous council elections on the ground that the provincial councils introduced after the Indo Sri Lanka agreement would weaken the unitary concept of the state and that it would be the first step towards independence. No explanation was given for contesting the elections but it must have surprised them also that they did well in the first elections It won eight seats in the western province, one in central, two in Sabaragamuwa, two in Uva and two in the North Central province. Some analysts mistakenly then believed that the votes for the JVP were mainly as protest against the non performing main parties the UNP and the SLFP. But the general elections in April 2004, followed by the elections to Wayambu province and now the provincial elections have shown the trend that the JVP is in the rise. The result of the present elections have proved that the JVP has come on its own and have a considerable presence and influence not only in the southern areas which consist of poor rural populace, but also among youths, students and unemployed in the towns and cities. JVP and its past: The JVP has had a violent past since its inception 1965. It launched two violent insurrections first in the early 1970s and again in late 1980s and both failed. In the second insurrection, the UNP led government led a brutal counter insurgency campaign by indulging in extra judicial killings and the entire politburo leadership save one member was murdered. By the security forces.  It was thought that JVP will not rise again after the violence unleashed against them and that the people in Sri Lanka would never forget or forgive them. But it was not to be. The reasons are many but a few that of are of interest to the rise of JVP now are given below.  * Firstly, the fundamental reasons that gave rise to JVP are still there and in fact much more intensified. The frustration and anger of youth in economically and socially backward areas in south still continue. There has been no visible or tangible improvement in the quality of life of the peasants whose frustrations are well understood and used by the JVP. Angry young unemployed youths and students have joined in droves. * Secondly, there is a perceptible loss of confidence of the people in the two mainstream major parties- the UNP and the SLFP. There is no doubt that in the initial stages though not now, people voted for the JVP more in anger against the two mainstream parties. * Third, is the steady economic downturn after the costly war in the north and east after 1983. What little of the economy that was left was in favour of the urban and to a lesser extent the rural rich, corrupt politicians, bureaucrats and the urban elite. * Fourth, though the top leaders of the JVP were eliminated in the insurrection between 1987-89, leaders at the intermediate and local levels survived. They were realistic enough to lie low for a while before reorganising themselves into a viable force at a suitable time when the popular discontent of the country against the mainstream political parties, political instability, weak governance continued to trouble the country. Added to this was the inability of state apparatus to win either the war or peace in the North East. The situation is no better today. * Fifthly, having seen the objective conditions now present in Sri Lanka, the JVP leaders have wisely realised for the present that their objectives could be achieved by evolution rather than by revolution as the latter approach had failed on the earlier two occasions. The JVP leaders uniformly and repeatedly have now been declaring that they will not resort to armed struggle but would strive to capture power by democratic methods. Right now they seem to be succeeding. * Sixthly, the SLFP having moved to the central political space, the entire political space of the left is open to them, there being no serious contenders!  * Seventh, they have a very strong, disciplined and stable leadership and individually are known to be of persons of absolute integrity. They are good speakers and their approach in one word is pragmatism. The party is still wedded to the three anchors of Nationalism, Marxism and Democracy.  * Eighth and last- parties with similar ideologies like the UML of Nepal and the CPI (M) in India have provided themselves with enough space in the governance and are in a position of influence both in Nepal and India. The JVP perhaps could look up them as models. JVP and India: One of the main planks of JVP at the time of its inception in 1965 was anti Indianism. Rohana Wijeweera the founder made constant mention of the dangers of Indian expansionism in his lectures and in the training of his cadres. He was also critical of the Tamil estate labour of Indian origin. From 1965 to this day, the JVP has made a complete turn about and is now firmly and more favourably inclined towards India. In both the insurrections of 1971 and 1987, India did give a helping hand in putting down the JVP. In the first instance during Srimavo Bandaranaike's time, India despatched helicopters and even troops without even waiting to enter into a formal agreement. In the second insurrection India helped indirectly by engaging the LTTE thus relieving the Sri Lankan troops who in turn could concentrate on the southern insurrection. JVP had no part to play in the post 1983 July riots which were mainly sponsored by the State with the help of UNP thugs. However, JVP was totally opposed to the Indo- Sri Lanka agreement and though opposition to the accord came from within the ruling party, in course of time the JVP took over the movement. JVP felt then and even now that their opposition was justified as the Tamil ethnic problem is back to square one today. JVP's opposition to the 13th amendment and the formation of provincial councils is well known. Their view is that Sri Lanka is too small a country to have the luxury of small provinces and giving a separate province to the Tamils of the North East would result in an Eelam some day.  The JVP had also protested against the 2000 draft constitution placed by the SLFP led government that promised a great deal of devolution to the Tamil areas.  The differences between the SLFP and the JVP came to the fore in the signing of the MOU in the beginning of this year. While the SLFP maintained that the objectives of solving the ethnic problem of Tamils could be achieved by the devolution of power to provinces within a united State, the JVP side held that the same objectives could be met by administrative decentralization to the local authority level. It is our view that the provincial councils were never given proper attention for the devolution of powers. They were used mainly to distribute funds and were never seriously thought of for devolution of power. In the case of North East, the Central establishment worked over time in the brief period when EPRLF was in power to ensure that they got nothing and the experiment was unsuccessful There is a view that the JVP is strongly anti Tamil and this is being refuted by the JVP leaders. They had and still have many friends in the Non LTTE groups. But for their intervention, the lone Tamil MP and the EPDP leader Douglas Devananda would not have been a cabinet minister in the present government. Since the JVP is quite adept to changes, it is necessary for them to review their stand on devolution to the Tamil areas. They have to only look northwards and see how a Marxist party in India is flourishing in West Bengal in a federal setup with considerable autonomy and with no danger of separation! It is time for India too, to review its position towards the JVP. The JVP leaders could be invited to India on a "party to party " basis and see how liberalisation, development and poverty alleviation could go hand in hand for the progress of the economically backward people. What is important to understand is that the JVP has come to stay and is getting fully into the mainstream politics in Sri Lanka. It needs all the sympathy and support as it is already the third biggest political party in Sri Lanka. This is the only way to ensure that they do not resort to violence as a means to achieve their objectives anymore.
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