How various marriages of convenience eventually transformed the JVP

Anura Kumara Dissanayake the JVP leadership on 02 February, 2014, at the 7th national convention of the party held at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium.

- By SHAMINDRA FERDINANDO

Smiling Anura Kumara Dissanayake with President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and PM Mahinda Rajapaksa at an event arranged by the Agriculture, Lands and Irrigation Ministry. Dissanayake served as Agriculture, Lands and Irrigation Minister in Kumaratunga's Cabinet. The assassination of her husband, Vijaya, by a JVP assassin, in February 1988, didn't discourage Chandrika from reaching consensus with the JVP. Among those pictured are Bimal Rathnayake and Ananda Wijepala, both Ministers in the current governmentm as well as S.M. Chandrasena who is now serving a jail term for corruption.

Maithripala Sirisena told this writer that President Kumaratunga hadn't been interested at all in toppling Wickremesinghe, though they didn’t see eye to eye on many issues. Sirisena said so during the time he served as the General Secretary of the SLFP when asked about the negotiations with the JVP. Anura Kumara Dissanayake had been among the JVP delegation that included Tilvin Silva, Wimal Weerawansa and Lal Kantha. The PA/SLFP delegation consisted of Maithripala Sirisena, Mangala Samaraweera, Nimal Siripala de Silva, Susil Premjayantha and Dr. Sarath Amunugama.

Following 11 months of tough negotiations, the JVP and PA/SLFP entered into an agreement in January 2004. However, they hadn't been able to reach a consensus on the national question. They refrained from dealing with contentious issues but advanced a strategy that was aimed at toppling Wickremesinghe’s government. Consequent to the JVP-PA/SLFP agreement, they decided to name the new coalition Eksath Janatha Nidahas Sandhanaya (United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA).