Presidential Election 2010 Why vote Dr. Vickramabahu ?
Below is the text of an appeal for signatures to support the electoral campaign of Vickramabahu Karunaratne, better known as Bahu. He is the only candidate in the election calling for self determination for the Tamil people. To aid his appeal for funds, send cheques payable to NSSP Solidarity Fund to PO Box 62732 London SW2 9GQ.
The Presidential Election in Sri Lanka comes eight months after the Lankan government declared victory over Tamil Tigers in a bloody onslaught that killed tens of thousands of Tamil civilians, maimed many thousands and rendered hundreds of thousands homeless. While over 12,000 young men are incarcerated as political prisoners under draconian anti-terrorism laws, the number of those who have “disappeared” is in thousands. Today, eminent international human rights groups, besides the UN and Human Rights Watch, have accused the government’s ostensible “humanitarian operation” as a charade to cover up unprecedented scale of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
While the main contenders at this Election, the incumbent president Mahinda Rajapaksa and his wartime military chief Sarath Fonseka were carrying out the brutal war against Tamils with the full backing of their foreign masters, the majority Sinhala workers, the downtrodden and others in the south had to undergo severe hardships in order to feed the war machine. Journalists who undertook reporting these atrocities were killed, jailed, harassed or forced to flee the country. The contained resentment in the south boiled over in a series of workers strikes as soon as the war was declared over, forcing rulers of a yet divided nation to call for this early Presidential Election.
The Left Front led by Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratne has been the pioneer leadership in Sri Lanka that championed the democratic rights of all people – those in the North and the South – and campaigned for a united movement of resistance to oppressive anti-people regimes. It has been Dr. Bahu’s consistent and committed stance for over three decades.
Today, the President and the retired General are competing with each other at the Election to claim the lion’s share of war spoils whereas the Common Left Candidate
Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratne is standing for National Unity based on Equality of all people, Autonomy and their right of Self Determination.. Dr. Bahu is supported by all radical left parties and mass organisations. Voting for him will be the only way forward for those who wish for a pluralistic country, united in hope and peace.
Therefore, we call upon all Sri Lankans to vote for Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratne of the Left Front and build a meaningful force that will unite to fight against racism, religious bigotry, media censorship, warmongers, warlords, war criminals and oppressors of all shades in order to pave the way for an egalitarian society which insures peace, security and human dignity for all.
8 Comments
[...] Sri Lankan Presidential Election: Vote Vickramabahu : Socialist Resistance: Fourth International in … socialistresistance.org/?p=813 – view page – cached Below is the text of an appeal for signatures to support the electoral campaign of Vickramabahu Karunaratne, better known as Bahu. He is the only candidate in the election calling for self determination for the Tamil people. [...]
It is quite untrue that Bahu is the only candidate calling for Tamil self-determination – this is part of the programme of Siritunga Jayasuriya of the United Socialist Party, who came third in the last Presidential election. Sri Lankan Socialists should be campaigning for him.
It is notable from Bahu’s statement that there is absolutely no mention of a political programme for the working people of Sri Lanka, just liberal / social-democratic rhetoric. It seems that Bahu and his allies in the Left Front have abandoned any attempot to put forward a socialist programme to unite workers and farmers of whatever ethnic background.
Hi Paul, according to the lead article on the USP’s own homepage: ‘ Siritunga declared, “USP is fighting for a democratic solution to the Tamil people based on sharing of power. We fight for a good government and a just society. Therefore, voting for USP will be a vote for a better future to all Sri Lankans.” ‘
Sharing of power inside a common Sri Lanka does not sound a democratic solution: it sounds like the status quo, and certainly is not support for an independent state – which is the demand of the Tamil people.
[...] Våra brittiska kamrater i Socialist Resistance skriver här: Sri Lankan Presidential Election [...]
Who was it who said that a lie can be half way round the world before the truth has got its boots on? I note that by the time my reply was posted the election is over. What could be clearer than the following from lankasocialist website? I shall not post again.
‘In the USP campaign, Siritunga Jayasuriya stressed that only a genuine socialist programme accepting the right of self-determination of the Tamils living in the North and the East can build the trust between the Tamils and Sinhalese which should be the basis of solving the most burning issues facing the country today. He pointed out that only a socialist programme can really unite the Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims for a harmonious future’.
Hi Paul, I don’t think it’s a lie. The NSSP stands for self-determination, not just in favour of the right to it. And it’s in favour of demanding that self-determination now, not just after the establishment of socialism. As far as I can see, the USP postpones self-determination until after the revolution. Perhaps I’m wrong: is there’s anywhere that the USP makes a clear call for a Tamil homeland?
I’m sorry Duncan, but Bahu of the NSSP contradicts you, on this very webpage (para 5):
‘Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratne is standing for National Unity based on Equality of all people, Autonomy and their right of Self Determination.’
i.e. he supports the right to secede, but doesn’t demand secession. We are not about splitting countries needlessly, we are about supporting the Tamils’ right to self-determination to show we are different from the exploiters and to build trust across all ethnic groups, just as the Bolsheviks did.
My original point remains. SR comrades mis-represented the situation regarding left candidates in this election and ignored the United Socialist Party candidate, who I have just heard achieved the highest left vote (8000) in the Presidential election.
Hi Paul, both the USP and the NLF/NSSP say that they support the right of the Tamils to self-determination. It’s clear, from the huge majority for the Tamil National Alliance, that the Tamil people have determined that they want a Tamil homeland. The response of the NSSP’s New Left Front (NLF) is to support that demand: http://www.nssp.info/ninawwa/bahuscolumn20080217.html while the USP, as far as I understand, opposes that and counterposes the struggle for socialism to the current demand for a Tamil homeland. In my opinion, that means that the USP’s support for Tamil self-determination is false and meaningless.
In the current context, in which far left is under huge pressure, a firm position for Tamil freedom is essential if socialists are to hold on to their support. A vote for the NLF is a vote for independence, and its 7,055 votes looks quite creditable in contrast to 9,296 last time: The NSSP held on to more than three-quarters of its 2005 vote while the USP lost more than three-quarters.