30 May 2017

Formation and leaders

The Encyclopædia Britannica, an English-language general knowledge encyclopaedia, describes the Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP) in an online article about Sri Lanka from April 2017 as follows:

“Among the political parties in Sri Lanka, the conservative United National Party and the more liberal Sri Lanka Freedom Party have dominated the political arena since independence. Successive governments have been led by one or the other of these two parties, which, at times, formed coalitions with the smaller parties.” (Encyclopædia Britannica, 7 April 2017)

GlobalSecurity.org, a US-based website covering military and security issues, provides the following information on the formation and early leaders of the SLFP in an article which was last modified in May 2012:

“In 1951 S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike led his faction, the Sinhala Maha Sabha, out of the ruling UNP [United National Party] and established the SLFP. […] In 1952, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party contested for the elections first time after its establishment in September 1951. […]

Like the UNP, the SLFP was a ‘family party.’ S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike was assassinated in 1959. After a brief and somewhat chaotic interregnum, his widow, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was chosen as party leader. In the July 1960 general election, the party won 75 out of 151 parliamentary seats, and in a coalition with Marxist parties, Mrs. Banaranaike became the world's first democratically elected female head of government.” (GlobalSecurity.org, page last modified 5 May 2012)

The book Political Parties of the World, which was published in 2009 in its 7th edition, also notes that “[u]ntil June 2006 one family led the party throughout its history”, referring to its first leader S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike who was “the party’s founder and first Prime Minister from 1956 until his assassination in September 1959”. He was followed by his widow Sirimavo Bandaranaike in 1960 who “became the world’s first woman Prime Minister (when the Prime Minister was head of government)” and his daughter Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga in 1994. In late 2005, Kumaratunga was president of Sri Lanka, but the Supreme Court had ruled that her second term in that position would end a year earlier than anticipated, in December 2005. At this stage she “had effectively lost control of the SLFP to her Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, who was elected president in November. In June 2006 Rajapakse was elected leader of the SLFP unopposed” (Political Parties of the World, 2009, p. 550). In 2017, the Political Handbook of the World 2016-2017 also describes how Rajapakse resumed leadership of the SLFP and how the SLFP formed an alliance with other parties called the United People Freedom Alliance (UPFA):

“In January 2004 the SLFP and the JVP concluded an alliance, and on February 7 Kumaratunga dissolved parliament and called an election for April 2. The multiparty United People Freedom Alliance (UPFA, successor of the PA) won 105 seats to 82 for the UNP, and on April 9 the popular SLFP parliamentary leader, Mahinda RAJAPAKSE, was sworn in as prime minister” (Political Handbook of the World 2016-2017, June 2017, p. 1425)

The Sri Lankan news portal The Asian Mirror published an article on the history of the SLFP in November 2016, stating that “[t]here was a consolidation of power by Rajapaksa allies until late 2014”. Thereafter, “the then SLFP General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena defected to the opposition, while not leaving the party” (Asian Mirror, 20 November 2016). The article further provides the following information:

“He [Maithripala Sirisena] became the ’common candidate’ of the opposition for the January 2015 Presidential Election, and won it defeating Rajapaksa. Sirisena soon took over the party and consolidated his position. However, the Rajapaksa camp, which is still strong within the SLFP and the UPFA managed to win a number of seats at the August 2015 General Election. While the SLFP decided to form a unity government with the UNP [United National Party], the MPs of the Rajapaksa camp chose to remain in the opposition.” (Asian Mirror, 20 November 2016)

The Sri Lankan newspaper Daily News also notes in an article from March 2017 that “[i]n February 2015, a faction of the SLFP and minor parties of the UPFA Alliance chose to form the Joint Opposition (JO) in support of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.” (Daily News, 3 March 2017)

 

After observing the parliamentary election in Sri Lanka, The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) published a report in October 2015, which summarises the change of leadership from Rajapaksa to Sirisena throughout the presidential and the parliamentary elections as follows:

“The 17 August 2015 parliamentary elections followed the crucial presidential election held on 8 January 2015 which resulted in the victory of Maithripala Sirisena, the common opposition candidate of the New Democratic Front (NDF) against the then incumbent, President Mahinda Rajapaksa of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). The victory of Mr Sirisena, former General Secretary of the SLFP, ended the 10-year rule of President Rajapaksa, and marked a significant transition in Sri Lankan politics while also giving rise to an extremely complex political scene. Following his election, President Sirisena became chairman of the SLFP and leader of the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), which is led by the SLFP. However, he asked the leader of the United National Party (UNP), Ranil Wickremesinghe, to form a government. A minority government was formed comprising UNP members and allies as well as some representatives of the UPFA.” (EU EOM, 17 October 2015, p. 6)

The Political Handbook of the World 2016-2017 summarises the changes in the SLFP leadership and the outcomes of the presidential elections in January 2015 and the subsequent parliamentary elections of August 2015 as follows:

“Former health minister Maithripala SIRISENA temporarily deflected from the SLFP to lead the opposition New Democratic Front –NDF (Nawa Prajathantravadi Peramuna) in presidential balloting on January 8, 2015. Sirisena won with 51.3 percent of the vote, and Rajapakse received 47.6 percent. Sirisena was sworn in on January 9.

On August 17, 2015, assembly elections were held in which the UNP [United National Party]-led United National Front of Good Governance –UNFGG (Eksath Yahapalana Jahitka Peramuna), a revised version of the UNF [United National Front], won 106 seats, while the UPFA [United People's Freedom Alliance] secured 95. Although short of a majority, the UNP secured support from the Sirisena wing of the SLFP to form a working coalition. Wickremesinghe was reappointed on August 21 to lead a unity government led by the UNP, but including members of the SLFP and smaller parties.” (Political Handbook of the World 2016-2017, June 2017, p. 1425)

Publishing a profile of Maithripala Sirisena in August 2015, the BBC describes Sri Lanka’s president and his role in the SLFP in the following terms:

“Maithripala Sirisena became Sri Lanka's president after a surprise victory in elections in January. He had been a close ally of his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa - until his unexpected announcement that he planned to run against him. Mr Rajapaksa's supporters were quick to label him a traitor. Mr Sirisena was one of the most powerful men in the Sri Lanka Freedom Party before he defected along with a number of other ruling party figures. Coming from a farming family in the Sinhalese heartland, he appealed to the same demographic as Mr Rajapaksa. Ranged behind Mr Sirisena was a large opposition coalition that kept his name secret until the final moment. […] Announcing his candidacy in November 2014, he said Sri Lanka was heading towards a dictatorship and was blighted by rampant corruption and a breakdown in law and order." (BBC News, 14 August 2015)

Germany’s international public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) published the following article after Maithripala Sirisena won the election in January 2015 and the subsequent split in the SLFP:

“In the country's tightest presidential race in over a decade, opposition candidate Sirisena defeated longtime president Mahinda Rajapaksa, ending the Sri Lankan leader's 9-year rule which critics describe as having been increasingly marked by nepotism and corruption. […] The candidacy of Sirisena, who until then had also been the General Secretary of Rajapaksa's own Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP), split the ruling party as he was joined by a number of other senior SLFP members who assembled a formidable opposition coalition. […] The 63-year-old has described himself as a socialist, vowing to limit the president's executive powers, root out corruption and nepotism, and strengthen parliament and the judiciary. With his campaign promises, Sirisena tapped into growing resentment over what many saw as Rajapaksa's increasingly authoritarian rule. The farmer-turned-politician also pledged to allow an independent investigation into alleged crimes committed during the country's decades-long civil war.” (DW, 9 January 2015)

In an article from September 2015, the Colombo Telegraph, which describes itself as a public interest website run by a group of exiled journalists who report about Sri Lankan matters, gives the following account on leadership issues in the SLFP:

“The current crisis facing the party, however, is unprecedented. A section of the SLFP has now joined the National government with the UNP, the SLFP’s former bitter rivals since its formation, under President Sirisena’s leadership. The rest of the party have refused to join the national government and are clearly waiting for the right moment to ambush the national government in parliament.” (Colombo Telegraph, 23 September 2015)

Two years later, in May 2017, the International Crisis Group (ICG) analyses Sirisena’s leadership of the SLFP as follows:

“Sirisena is locked in a battle with Rajapaksa for control of their Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP) and hemmed in by the party’s traditional nationalism. SLFP ministers were never enthusiastic about being the junior partner in a unity government with their long-time rival, the United National Party (UNP), and are unhappy with what many see as UNP arrogance and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s less-than consultative style. Afraid of being outflanked by Rajapaksa’s nationalism, the Sirisena SLFP wing resists key governance and reconciliation promises, even as this weakens support from constituencies that brought Sirisena to power: Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese dismayed by corruption, abuse of power and high cost of living under Rajapaksa.” (ICG, 16 May 2017, p. i)

Ideology

In September 2015, the Sri Lanka Guardian, a non-profit web portal founded by a group of people describing themselves as “concerned Sri Lankan citizens including journalists, activists, academics and retired civil servants”, published a column written by Wiswa Warnapala. An active member of the SLFP and General Secretary of UPFA until February 2016, Wiswa Warnapala describes the founding ideology of his party in the following terms:

“It was in the days of the Colonial State that the seeds of its origin were sowed by S. W. R.D. Bandaranaike, who as a young politician, saw the need for an alternative political platform with a tinge of nationalism and it also contained progressive political ideas of his own and they drew inspiration from the anti-colonialist movement in our part of the world. He, as a young perceptive politician, imbibed anti-imperialist ideas.” (Sri Lanka Guardian, 2 September 2015)

Neil DeVotta, an associate professor of political science at Wake Forest University in the US, whose research interests include South Asian ethnicity and nationalism, provides the following background information on the SLFP’s founding ideology in his contribution to a book on South Asian parties, which was published in 2015:

“It is impossible to talk party politics in Sri Lanka without seriously considering the nationalist movements among the majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils. For instance while the UNP was formed in 1946 and the SLFP was created in 1951, when its founder S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike left the UNP and crossed over to the opposition, the SLFP first came to power in 1956 as part of an election that capitalised on Sinhalese-Tamil animus. At a time when the country was engulfed in a debate on whether to replace English with Sinhala and Tamil as national languages, Bandaranaike and especially the Sinhalese Buddhist nationalists who supported him embraced a Sinhala only platform to catapult themselves to power.” (DeVotta, 2015, p. 140)

The Political Handbook of the World 2016-2017 notes that the SLFP “has emphasised Buddhism, nationalism, ‘democratic socialism’, and nonalignement in international affairs” (Political Handbook of the World 2016-2017, June 2017, p. 1422). The book Political Parties of the World, published in 2009 in its 7th edition, describes the SLFP’s agenda as follows:

“Founded in 1951, the SLFP campaigned for the attainment of republican status for Sri Lanka prior to the adoption of the 1972 constitution. With a democratic socialist orientation, the party advocated a non-aligned foreign policy, industrial development in both the state and private sectors, and safeguards for national minorities.” (Political Parties of the World, 2009, p. 550)

The US-based website GlobalSecurity.org describes the SLFP’s approach to language and economic and foreign policy in an article which was last modified in May 2012:

“On the sensitive issue of language, the party originally espoused the use of both Sinhala and Tamil as national languages, but in the mid-1950s it adopted a ‘Sinhala only’ policy. As the champion of the Buddhist religion, the SLFP has customarily relied upon the socially and politically influential Buddhist clergy, the sangha, to carry its message to the Sinhalese villages. […]

In contrast to the free market orientation of the UNP, the SLFP's policies have included economic self-sufficiency, nationalization of major enterprises, creation of a comprehensive welfare state, redistribution of wealth, and a nonaligned foreign policy that favored close ties with socialist countries. It has, however, refused to embrace Marxism as its guiding ideology.” (GlobalSecurity.org, page last modified 5 May 2012)

According to the Colombo Telegraph, a website which is run by exiled journalist, “the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) has no monopoly over using Sinhala chauvinism and Buddhism for electoral gains but it has been a consistent culprit in using narrow nationalist propaganda in order to gain the electoral upper hand” (Colombo Telegraph, 23 September 2015). The same article describes members of the SLFP who did not join the national government under President Sirisena’s leadership:

“They march under the banner of Sinhalese nationalism and fundamentalist Buddhism, arguing that the national government are endangering the territorial integrity and future safety of Sri Lanka. They are opposed to making any concessions to the Tamil community. This is a strategy that, at both the presidential election in January and the parliamentary elections in August, has delivered declining returns for them, and their leader, Mahinda Rajapaksa. However, they are not political novices and are well aware of the continued potency of Sinhalese nationalism both inside parliament and outside of it. After all, this has been the backbone of the SLFP throughout its 64-year existence, and prior to that, the Sinhala Maha Saba formed in 1934 by SWRD [S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike].” (Colombo Telegraph, 23 September 2015)

Referring to Sirisena, the Interpreter, a blog operated by the Sydney-based think tank the Lowy Institute for International Policy, published a commentary by the International Crisis Group’s (ICG) Sri Lanka senior analyst Alan Keenan in July 2015 stating that “[s]ince coming into power, he [Maithripala Sirisena] has moved away from Rajapaksa’s narrative of Sinhala nationalism” (The Interpreter, 7 July 2015). In May 2017, a report of the International Crisis Group (ICG) notes that about Maithripala Sirisena that“[h]aving done little to reshape the party around a less exclusionary, nationalist vision, he and his SLFP ministers are increasingly concerned with securing its traditional nationalist core, flirting with the Sinhala chauvinism against which they had campaigned” (ICG, 16 May 2017, p. 4).

Activities

In its report from May 2017, the ICG provides the following assessment of the SLFP’s activities during the last two years in office:

“Sirisena’s first nine months saw real progress. His electoral coalition, anchored around the United National Party (UNP) and strengthened by much of his – and the Rajapaksa family’s – Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), had the two-thirds parliamentary majority needed to approve the nineteenth constitutional amendment in April 2015. That fulfilled an electoral pledge to reduce the presidency’s enormous powers and restore the independence of oversight commissions for the police, judiciary and human rights. The government ended censorship and intimidation of the media and partly scaled back the heavy military presence in Tamil-majority areas in the north and east. The military was persuaded to return, reluctantly, some of the huge swathes of land it had seized there in and after the war. […]

Momentum slowed by mid-2016, however, and now seems stalled. […] Divisions inside and outside the government have led to a focus on manoeuvre for political survival rather than pursuit of reforms and maintenance of unity across party and ethnic lines. […] Meanwhile, the Rajapaksas are exciting their base, attacking constitutional reform and transitional justice as capitulations to anti-Sinhala and foreign forces. Government ministers and others have said the family funds militant Buddhist monks and others to destabilise the ruling coalition, supported by pro-Rajapaksa elements in the military. Many civil servants are hedging their bets, concerned that the government is weak and fearful of retribution, should Mahinda or one of his brothers return to power.” (ICG, 16 May 2017, pp. 3-5)

A report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka, published by the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in September 2015, also refers to the nineteenth constitutional amendment after the presidential elections in January 2015:

“12. The manifesto of the new Government included a 100-day programme of constitutional reform and other measures, which culminated in the passage of the nineteenth amendment to the Constitution limiting the powers of the executive presidency, re-introduced limits to presidential terms and restored the Constitutional Council, which makes recommendations on appointments to the judiciary and independent commissions.” (HRC, 28 September 2015, p. 4)

In February 2017, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) published a report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Sri Lanka which provides the following assessment on the government’s activities and reforms:

“In his oral update to the Human Rights Council in June 2016, the High Commissioner observed that ‘the full promise of governance reform, transitional justice and economic revival has yet to be delivered, and risks stalling or dissipating.’ A similar analysis holds true nine months hence. Party politics, including the balancing of power between the different constituencies of the coalition in the run-up to constitutional reforms, have contributed to a reluctance to address difficult issues regarding accountability or to clearly articulate a unified position by all parts of government.” (HRC, 10 February 2017, p. 14)

Electorate, membership and treatment of members

The Colombo-based English newspaper the Daily Mirror notes in an article from September 2015 that “[s]ince the formation of the new party in the early 1950s, SLFP platforms echoed the organisation’s stress on appealing to the emotions of the Sinhalese nationalists and masses in rural areas” (Daily Mirror, 1 September 2015). In an article published on the occasion of the SLFP’s 65th anniversary in The Sunday Times in September 2016, Pradeep Peiris, Director at the Social Scientists Association in Colombo, provides the following account of the SLFP’s electorate:

“Owing to this history, the SLFP has been widely perceived as a party of the Sinhalese Buddhists and marginalised social and economic classes in rural Sri Lanka. However, the SLFP has never been exclusively a party of Buddhists or the poor. The two-party electoral competition that came to govern the electoral politics in the country since 1956 not only changed the dynamics of the electorates, but also subjected both the SLFP and its rival UNP to continuous transformation.” (The Sunday Times, 11 September 2016)

The US website GlobalSecurity.com provides the following account of the SLFP’s electorate:

“Since the 1950s, SLFP platforms reflected the earlier organization's emphasis on appealing to the sentiments of the Sinhalese masses in rural areas. To this basis has been added the anti-establishment appeal of non-revolutionary socialism. […] Another important constituency was the Sinhalese middle class, whose members have resented alleged Tamil domination of the professions, commerce, and the civil service since the British colonial era.” (GlobalSecurity.org, page last modified 5 May 2012)

No information could be found on the number of members of the SLFP. With regard to rules for membership to the SLFP, Janeen Fernando from Verité Research, a non-partisan Colombo based Think Tank focusing on Economic, Political, Legal and Media Research, writes in a May 2017 e-mail response:

“Any person of 18 years of age or older is eligible to be a member. For a period of 6 months s/he will be considered a member 'candidate'. Anyone who is holding a membership in another political party cannot be a member in SLFP. A person cannot hold membership in two regional branches of the SLFP at the same time. Annual membership will end as at 31st December each year. Membership to be renewed annually between 1st October – 31st December. A membership card issued by the organizer of the electorate has to be obtained by each member. Additionally, the party chairman has the discretion to offer membership to any person of his/her choice.” (Fernando, 26 May 2017)

The website Manthri.lk, which is run by Verité Research, profiles the actions and activities of Sri Lankan Members of Parliament (MPs) and contains a list of the SLFP’s politicians. It can be accessed via the following link:

·      Manthri.lk: Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), undated
http://www.manthri.lk/en/parties/sri-lanka-freedom-party-slfp

 

In its National Integrity System Assessment Sri Lanka 2010, Transparency International (TI) Sri Lanka notes that “[a]ll major parties are characterised by centralised, top-down structure with little accountability to the membership” (TI, April 2011, p. 211). The report further provides the following information on party structure and membership organisations:

“Major parties have youth organisations and rural party branches as well as university branches. The SLFP’s supreme body is the Central Committee, chaired by the Party Chairman to which the Executive Committee is answerable. Party branches exist at local level, answerable to district organisations. There are also twelve powerful affiliated organisations such as the Youth and Women’s organisations. […] However, neither the Sri Lankan Constitution nor the legislative enactments state under what circumstances of within which rights and obligations political parties must function, and there are no described procedures that elaborate on inner-party management. […] It is the absence of any guideline or statutory norm that permits quasi-feudal and undemocratic structures within the main political parties, with no accountability or transparency even to its membership.” (TI, April 2011, pp. 211-212)

The most recent National Integrity System Assessment Sri Lanka by TI Sri Lanka, which was published in June 2014, notes that “S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike founded the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) in 1951 and the party constitution highlights the concentration of power at the top. The supreme body is the Central Committee” (TI Sri Lanka, 2014, p. 180). The report further states that in Sri Lanka “party structure is based on centralized rule and limited membership inputs” (TI Sri Lanka, 2014, p. 182) and provides the following assessment on structure and leadership:

“As noted in the NIS-SL 2010 Assessment, all parties have a centralized power structure. Whilst the ‘central committee’ (SLFP) or the ‘working committee’ (UNP) or the politburo (SLMC) provide a semblance of ‘democracy’, the unbridled powers of the leader is a characteristic of the political party system in Sri Lanka. It is the party leader, for example, who becomes the candidate for the Presidential elections. At the same time, disciplinary actions against those who ‘cross-over’ or ‘challenge’ party decisions is difficult to implement under the alliance system currently in place” (TI Sri Lanka, 2014, p. 187)

In February 2016, the Sri Lankan English-language newspaper Daily News reports on a meeting of the SLFP’s central committee under the auspices of president Sirisena, where the party decided on treatment of members who criticise the party:

“The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Central Committee yesterday decided to take disciplinary action against any member who criticises the party and its leadership irrespective of his or her status in the party. The committee has arrived at this decision after an extensive discussion about present political environment in the country when it met under the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena in Colombo yesterday.

[…] The committee has also decided to suspend the membership of seven heads of Local Government bodies with immediate effect as they were in the practice of criticizing the party and its leadership. Decision has also been taken not to endorse any request of members to act as an independent group within Parliament, reliable sources told the Daily News yesterday. […] Any attempts by SLFP members to tie up with extremist parties have been termed as an act in contravention of party discipline and disciplinary action is to be taken against the members involved in such attempts. […]. The Central Committee decided to delegate full authority to the party’s Disciplinary Committee to take disciplinary action against such members.” (Daily News, 23 February 2016)

The Sri Lankan internet newspaper ColomboPage also reports about the SLFP’s central working committee in February 2016:

“The Central Working Committee of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) has banned the formation of any independent groups by parliamentarians elected to Parliament from the United People's Freedom Alliance ticket at the general election. State Minister Dilan Perera at a media briefing on Wednesday said the Central Committee had decided to ban members from participating in events or discussions that would lead to form a separate group in Parliament. He said the SLFP General Secretary Minister Duminda Dissanayake has informed all members of the party about the Central Committee’s decision. Minister Perera added that the only few UPFA Parliamentarians such as Dinesh Gunawardena, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Wimal Weerawansa, and Udaya Gammanpila talk about a separate party and soon the support for them will die down.” (ColomboPage, 24 February 2016)

In November 2016, the Colombo-based daily English newspaper Daily FT reports about the formation of a new party, writing that “[t]he Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, a new political party chaired by former Minister G.L. Pieris, vowed to claim the mantle of the ‘true’ SLFP at its inaugural media briefing held yesterday, in a sign that rifts within President Maithripala Sirisena’s party were widening” (Daily FT, 18 November 2016). The article further provides the following information:

“The creation of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (Sri Lanka People’s Front) is the first attempt by the pro-Rajapaksa faction of the SLFP to affect a major split in the party led by President Maithripala Sirisena. It is unclear if other members of the ‘Joint Opposition’, the faction of the SLFP which did not join the national unity coalition led by the UNP, will join the new party.” (Daily FT, 18 November 2016)

In January 2017, the Congressional Research Service (CRS), a think tank for public policy research linked to the United States Congress, reports that “The SLFP is expected to split, as a rival faction within the party loyal to former President Rajapaksa has formed the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (Sri Lanka People’s Front). Observers expect this development to place strains on the coalition and weaken the president” (CRS, 4 January 2017). In March 2017, the Sri Lankan newspaper Daily News also reports about a possible split in the SLFP, stating that the “UPFA General Secretary Mahinda Amaraweera said a split within the SLFP was becoming more imminent as the Joint Opposition (JO) continued to work against the SLFP” (DailyNews, 3 March 2017). The same month, the Daily Mirror, an English-language newspaper published in Colombo, reports on the formation of a new party, stating that “[t]he Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) members in the joint opposition (JO) and the members of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) will jointly contest the upcoming elections, SLPP Chairman G.L. Peiris said today” (Daily Mirror, 2 May 2017).

 

In December 2016, the Sri Lankan news portal News1st reports about protests of councillors affiliated with the Joint Opposition (JO) and the use of tear gas against protestors:

“Tear gas was fired at a group of former provincial councillors, affiliated to the joint opposition, who attempted to proceed towards parliament through the police barricades. The aim of the protesters was to pressure the government to conduct the local government elections as soon as possible.” (News1st, 3 December 2016)

The Sri Lankan news portal Hiru News also reports on the use of tear gas in December 2016, stating that “Police fired tear gas and water cannon at a group representing the Joint Opposition who were staging a protest near the Parliamentary Complex” (Hiru News, 3 December 2016)

 

In the timeframe available for this research, no further information could be found on the treatment of SLFP members during protests or regarding violence or abusive measures in the current context. In the run up to the presidential elections in January 2015, which lead to the election of President Sirisena, an opinion piece by Amantha Perera, a journalist and foreign correspondent based in Colombo, published by the Inter Press Service (IPS), contains the following information on violence against SLFP members before the presidential election in January 2015:

“As the election campaign enters its final 72 hours, there is growing fear among monitors that violence will escalate. In the last two days, two rallies addressed by Sirisena – one in Pelmadulla in the Ratnapura District of the southwestern Sabaragamuwa Province, and the other in Aralaganwila in his native Polonnaruwa District in the North Central Province – have come under attack, with shots being fired at the latter rally according to reports on social media.

In the early hours of Jan. 5, the last day of campaigning, the streets of the town of Kahawatte, close to the Rathapura District, were turned into a battle-zone as opposition supporters took on a group of government loyalists who had arrived in eight vehicles. […] Three opposition supporters were injured, one critically due to gunshot wounds, and several party offices supporting Rajapaksa were set on fire. Since the start of the campaign election monitors have complained of police inaction. In the Kahawatte incident they said that police had only intervened when opposition supporters began attacking government election offices after they were fired at.” (IPS, 5. January 2015)

The Colombo-based Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV), an independent organisation for monitoring election-related violence, reports on violence against members of the UPFA, the alliance of which the SLFP is a member after the presidential elections in January 2015. The CMEV notes that“[t]here is one casualty from post poll violence and several instances of assault, threat and intimidation” and that “most of the victims in the incidents reported are from the UPFA” (CMEV, 12 January 2015). In its report on the parliamentary elections from October 2015, the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) notes that “the campaign was assessed by stakeholders as largely peaceful”, although “there were incidents involving firearms that resulted in several deaths as well as numerous cases of assault and arson“ (EU EOM, 17 October 2015, p. 2).

Symbol and flag

The Daily Mirror reports in September 2016 that “President Maithripala Sirisena addressing the Sri Lanka Freedom Party’s 65th anniversary in Kurunegala said SLFP will contest the next local government election under the ‘hand’ symbol” (Daily Mirror, 4 September 2016). The official government news portal News.lk also reports in September 2016 that “President Maithripala Sirisena said that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) will contest the upcoming local government polls under the SLFP’s traditional ‘hand’ symbol” (News.lk, 5 September 2016). In May 2017, the Daily Mirror published an article under the title “JO, SLPP to jointly contest future elections” quoting the chairman of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, stating that “[h]e told a news conference that the two parties would not contest these elections under the hand symbol of the SLFP” (Daily Mirror, 2 May 2017).

 

A Facebook group which calls itself “SLFP (Sri Lanka Freedom Party)” and which has a title picture portraying former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, features a profile picture uploaded in July 2015, showing the hand symbol below. The picture has a blue background with a hand outlined in white.

[Bild entfernt]

(SLFP, 7 July 2015)

 

Past profile pictures of the same Facebook group contain another picture uploaded on March 2015 featuring a white background with a blue circle containing the writing “SLFP” in three languages and featuring a sun in the middle. The circle is surrounded by a laurel wreath and a lion holding sword, as seen on the Sri Lankan national flag, stands on top of the circle (see picture below).

[Bild entfernt]

(SLFP, 16 March 2015)

 

 

 

 

References: (all links accessed 25 May 2017)

·      Asian Mirror: SLFP: A Brief History Of Splits, From 1959 To Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, 20 November 2016
http://www.asianmirror.lk/news/item/20636-slfp-a-brief-history-of-splits-from-1959-to-sri-lanka-podujana-peramuna

·      BBC News: Profile: Sri Lanka's Maithripala Sirisena, 14 August 2015
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30708899

·      CMEV – Center for Monitoring Election Violence: Presidential Election 2015 Post Election Communiqué, 12 January 2015
https://cmev.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/post-election-communique.pdf

·      ColomboPage: SLFP Central Committee stops attempts to split the party, 24 February 2016
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/slfp-central-committee-to-meet-to-discuss-rajapaksa-factions-future/

·      Colombo Telegraph: The Sri Lanka Freedom Party: The Moment Of Truth, 23 September 2015
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/the-sri-lanka-freedom-party-the-moment-of-truth/

·      CRS – Congressional Research Service: Sri Lanka: Background, Reform, Reconciliation, and Geopolitical Context, 4 January 2017
https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R44731.html#fn14

·      Daily FT: Podujana Peramuna channels Mahinda, seeks to become the ‘true’ SLFP , 18 November 2016
http://www.ft.lk/article/580879/Podujana-Peramuna-channels-Mahinda--seeks-to-become-the--true--SLFP

·      Daily Mirror: Tracing the birth of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, 1 September 2015
http://www.dailymirror.lk/85727/tracing-the-birth-of-the-sri-lanka-freedom-party

·      Daily Mirror: SLFP to contest under ‘hand’ symbol: MS, 4 September 2016
http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/SLFP-to-contest-under-hand-symbol-MS-115219.html

·      Daily Mirror: JO, SLPP to jointly contest future elections, 2 May 2017
http://www.dailymirror.lk/128153/JO-SLPP-to-jointly-contest-future-elections

·      Daily News: Time to clean up the UPFA, 3 March 2017
http://dailynews.lk/2017/03/03/political/109326/mahinda-amaraweera-says-slfp-split-imminent

·      Daily News: SLFP to take disciplinary action against dissenting members, 23 February 2016
http://dailynews.lk/2016/02/13/political/slfp-take-disciplinary-action-against-dissenting-members

·      DeVotta, Neil: Parties, political decay and democratic regression in Sri Lanka, in Chiriyankandath, James (ed.): Parties and Political Change in South Asia, Routledge, 2015
https://books.google.at/books?id=c4n7CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA3&dq=Political+Parties+of+South+Asia&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjtwP24nPjTAhWoApoKHRNFAvQQ6AEIODAE#v=onepage&q=SLFP&f=false

·      DW – Deutsche Welle: Introducing Maithripala Sirisena - Sri Lanka's new president, 9 January 2015
http://www.dw.com/en/introducing-maithripala-sirisena-sri-lankas-new-president/a-18181694

·      Encyclopædia Britannica: Sri Lanka, 7 April 2017
https://www.britannica.com/place/Sri-Lanka/Industry

·      EU EOM - European Union Election Observation Mission: Final Report; Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka; Parliamentary Elections 17 August 2015, 17 October 2015 (available at ecoi.net)
http://www.ecoi.net/file_upload/1226_1447078820_eueom-srilanka-finalreport-20151017.pdf

·      Fernando, Janeen: E-mail response, 26 May 2017

·      GlobalSecurity.org: Sri Lanka Freedom Party [SLFP], page last modified 5 May 2012
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/sri-lanka/political-parties-slfp.htm

·      Hiru News: Tear gas fired at Joint Opposition’s protest near Parliament roundabout, 3 December 2016
http://www.hirunews.lk/148853/tear-gas-fired-at-joint-oppositions-protest-near-parliament-roundabout

·      HRC - UN Human Rights Council: Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka [A/HRC/30/61], 28 September 2015 (available at ecoi.net)
http://www.ecoi.net/file_upload/1930_1444303374_a-hrc-30-61-eng-1.doc

·      HRC - UN Human Rights Council: Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Sri Lanka [A/HRC/34/20], 10 February 2017 (available at ecoi.net)
http://www.ecoi.net/file_upload/1930_1488988521_g1703056.pdf

·      ICG – International Crisis Group: Sri Lanka’s Transition to Nowhere, 16 May 2017
https://d2071andvip0wj.cloudfront.net/286-sri-lanka-s-transition-to-nowhere.pdf

·      IPS - Inter Press Service - News Agency: OPINION:Tensions Rise as Sri Lankans Prepare for Historic Polls, 5. January 2015
http://www.ipsnews.net/2015/01/opinion-tensions-rise-as-sri-lankans-prepare-for-historic-polls/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=opinion-tensions-rise-as-sri-lankans-prepare-for-historic-polls

·      Manthri.lk: Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), undated
http://www.manthri.lk/en/parties/sri-lanka-freedom-party-slfp

·      News1st: Tear gas fired at joint opposition members, 3 December 2016
http://newsfirst.lk/english/2016/12/tear-gas-fired-joint-opposition-members/156078

·      News.lk: SLFP to contest LG poll with Hand Symbol – President, 5 September 2016
https://www.news.lk/news/sri-lanka/item/14382-slfp-to-contest-lg-poll-with-hand-symbol-president

·      Political Handbook of the World 2016-2017 Volume 1 (Editor: Tom Lansford), 2017
https://au.sagepub.com/en-gb/oce/political-handbook-of-the-world-2016-2017/book249343#preview

·      Political Parties of the World, 7th edition (Editor: D.J. Sagar), 2009

·      SLFP - Sri Lanka Freedom Party: Facebook Profile Pictures, 16 March 2015
https://www.facebook.com/srilankafreedomparty/photos/a.10150302771060187.562600.333787250186/10155343358005187/?type=1&theater

·      SLFP - Sri Lanka Freedom Party: Facebook Profile Pictures, 7 July 2015
https://www.facebook.com/srilankafreedomparty/photos/a.10150302771060187.562600.333787250186/10155803376965187/?type=1&theater

·      Sri Lanka Guardian: SLFP: Time To Revise Its Policies And Strategies, 2 September 2015
http://www.slguardian.org/2015/09/slfp-time-to-revise-its-policies-and-strategies/

·      The Interpreter: Rajapaksa returns to test Sri Lanka's democracy (author: Alan Keenan), 7 July 2015
http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/post/2015/07/07/rajapaksa-returns-to-test-sri-lankas-democracy.aspx

·      The Sunday Times: SLFP at 65: The crisis of Lanka’s political party system, 11 September 2016
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/160911/sunday-times-2/slfp-at-65-the-crisis-of-lankas-political-party-system-208017.html

·      TI Sri Lanka– Transparency International Sri Lanka: National Integrity System Assessment Sri Lanka 2010, April 2011
http://www.tisrilanka.org/pub/reports/NIS_SL_2010.pdf

·      TI Sri Lanka: Transparency International Sri Lanka: National Integrity System Assessment Sri Lanka 2014, June 2014
https://www.transparency.org/whatwedo/nisarticle/sri_lanka_2014