A scientific, pragmatic, and people-centered approach to our economic crisis can only be delivered by a political alliance formed with a combination of center-left political forces, the Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CPSL) has said in a statement.

The first step in that direction, it said “should be to distance ourselves from the neoliberal economic strategy based on 45 years of experience. That task cannot be accomplished by the right-wing political forces, since they as a class, have neither the will nor the ability. Accordingly, fulfilling that historical need and task is assigned only by a political alliance formed with a combination of center-left political forces,” CPSL said.

At this critical juncture, if the progressive, left, and patriotic forces neglect their historical responsibility, the country may turn into an ungovernable state of anarchy and right-wing forces will not hesitate to allow extra-legal or even military intervention, the CPSL said.

“Accordingly, the Communist Party of Sri Lanka emphatically expresses the imperative need for a broad-based political alliance of anti-imperialist progressive and patriotic forces in order to accomplish the national task of building the economy based on a common minimum programme,” it said.

Given below is the CPSL statement in full.

“The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka, which met on September 23, 2023, focused its attention on the current state of the economic crisis facing the country and the political, social and cultural trends that have arisen from it. It also decided to keep the people informed about the party’s view-point, political position and the next steps to be taken.

“The Communist Party has emphatically stated that the real factors behind the economic crisis that erupted in March 2022 are the policies related to the neo-liberal economic strategy and the current electoral system with the executive presidential system introduced to ensure the continued implementation of those policies. Factors such as corruption, inefficiency of economic management and politicization of public service are also negative trends arising from the neoliberal economic strategy itself.

“The crisis was further aggravated by the government’s official announcement on April 12, 2022 that the country was financially bankrupt and the devaluation of the rupee by almost 80%. When the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) failed to provide a substitute for political leadership, President Gotabaya fled the country after handing over the control of the country to his main rival, Ranil Wickremesinghe.

“During Ranil Wickremesinghe’s almost 1 1/2 years in office, his only recourse was to seek refuge in the International Monetary Fund. Ranil Wickremesinghe has so far failed to take any effective steps other than taking more loans to repay the debt. Oppression and suppression are the main features of his governance.

“The rupee deficit created with the reduction of state revenue from 24% to 6% (of gross domestic product), as a result of the tax restrictions, tax amnesties, tax reliefs and concessions provided to the able class during the period of 1978-2023, has not been remedied yet other than imposing indirect taxes on the common people and direct taxes on the middle class.

“It should be acknowledged that the economic crisis facing the country has been affected by the global economic recession and the global financial turmoil. Geopolitical challenges have also played a role.

“However, on the other hand, it is now abundantly clear that a more favorable international economic environment is being created by the emerging new world economic order, and through it, a change in the world balance of economic forces is taking place. Accordingly, the Global South in general and Asian economies in particular are strengthening.

“In the above national and international context, a scientific, pragmatic and people-centered approach should be taken in finding solutions to our economic crisis.

“The first step in that direction should be to distance ourselves from the neoliberal economic strategy based on 45 years of experience. That task cannot be accomplished by the right-wing political forces, since they as a class, have neither the will nor the ability.

“Accordingly, fulfilling that historical need and task is assigned only by a political alliance formed with a combination of center-left political forces.

“At this critical juncture, if the progressive, left and patriotic forces neglect their historical responsibility, the country may turn into an ungovernable state of anarchy. Likewise, right-wing forces will not hesitate to allow extra-legal or even military intervention.

Accordingly, the Communist Party of Sri Lanka emphatically expresses the imperative need for a broad-based political alliance of anti-imperialist progressive and patriotic forces in order to accomplish the national task of building the economy based on a common minimum programme.”