[Via Communist Internet... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ] . . ----- Original Message ----- From: Downwithcapitalism <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2001 4:51 AM Subject: [downwithcapitalism] JVP back in power? Agence France Presse. 25 June 2001. Marxists call the shots in Sri Lanka's numbers game. Excerpts. COLOMBO -- After two armed rebellions that left some 80,000 people dead, Sri Lanka's Marxist JVP, or People's Liberation Front, has emerged a decisive factor in an opposition-led resolution, now before the legislature, to oust President Chandrika Kumaratunga's shaky coalition government. For the first time the JVP is a crucial player in deciding the fate of the government. The 10 seats the JVP has in the 225-member House have given the former insurgents a different kind of lethal "fire-power." The JVP could do to the government politically what it did to the Marxists in April 1971 militarily. But the choice for the JVP is a difficult one and the group says they will announce a final decision when the no-trust resolution against the government is put to vote next month. To bring the government down is to inevitably support the right-wing opposition United National Party (UNP), which is staking a bid to form an interim administration for limited democratic reform plan. The JVP must walk a tight rope. The UNP also has a dismal record of ruthlessly putting down the second JVP insurrection that lasted over two and a half years from July 1987. The JVP leader Rohana Wijeweera and virtually his entire politburo was killed in cold blood by the military. The present leadership of the JVP were mainly the political-wing leaders who escaped the annihilation. After bullets and bombs failed to bring results, the JVP turned to ballots and contested elections from 1994, first through a proxy and later directly. They scored spectacular gains, winning 10 seats at the October 2000 elections, cutting into the vote banks of both the PA and the UNP. The JVP no longer preaches hard-line socialist rhetoric and in recent years has been advocating a limited degree of private enterprise. The group, which [claims to] draw inspiration from revolutionary leader Che Guvera, now appeals to the young middle classes by advocating an academy for cricket, the hugely popular game which is a legacy of British colonial rule. >From a near totalitarian and autocratic style, the JVP is today leading the agitation for democratic reforms. The JVP wants five independent commissions established to run the country's civil service, police, the judiciary, elections and the state-controlled media. Many have welcomed the JVP's entry into mainstream politics and often hold them up as an example for other rebel movements world-wide. The JVP's latest statement welcomed a "new found commitment to democracy" by the UNP, which had ruled the country for 30 years since independence from Britain in 1948. "It is not a bad thing that the UNP has realised the value of democracy," the JVP said. Until the no confidence vote is taken next month the JVP can expect a red-carpet reception from both the government and the opposition keen to bury the hatchet, at least for the time being. * * * * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
