Comrades take drubbing on the bump, signal readiness to struggle on

Dissanayake at yesterday’s press briefing

By Saman Indrajith

JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake says that in politics change and dynamism are natural factors and nothing will stand final so the need of the hour is to adapt to the change to continue their struggle.

Addressing the media at the party headquarters in Pelawatte yesterday, Dissanayake said: “In politics we face defeats that come in the form of storms, gale force winds as well as tsunamis. But nothing lasts forever. We have to continue our struggle.”

He said that though the JVP-led National People’s Power polled votes totalling closer to 445,000 at the just concluded general election that was better than their recent electoral performances, but the number of its MPs in Parliament had been reduced from six to three. “This is not a result we expected. We are not satisfied with the result, but we accept it as the people’s mandate. We the NPP want to achieve it we have to fight both in and outside parliament. As the number of seats we got is limited to three, we have to think of considering the plans to intensify our struggle outside the parliament.”

“The government asked for a two-thirds majority from people to implement the pledges they had made to the people at the presidential election. Now people have given that mandate. It is up to the government to deliver what it has promised.”

Dissanayake said that the SLPP had put forward an idea of a new Constitution but mentioned nothing of its content. “We too admit that the 1978 Constitution is outdated and there is a need for a new Constitution or drastic reforms for the existing one. Such reforms need not only a two thirds-majority but also people’s approval at a referendum. We are ready to consider extending our support for reforms which would strengthen democracy, human rights.”