FROM KARL MARX TO WASANTHA SAMARASINGHE

Rich men in poor man’s party

- By M.S.M.Ayub

Has the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the core constituent of the ruling National People’s Power (NPP), lost its credentials as a party of the poor, due to the declaration of assets submitted by some of its leaders to the Commission to investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC)?

Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe’s declaration of assets which has been published in the website of the CIABOC indicate his net wealth to be Rs. 275 million.

Opposition parties claim that the JVP has lost its credentials, arguing that a “proletarian” party such as the JVP claims itself to be, cannot have leaders with such wealth, whereas the NPP and the JVP are adamant in justifying Samarasinghe’s wealth, contending that it is a rare case.

Providing more fodder for the Opposition politicians a video is being circulated in social media where Samarasinghe says that he, as the other full-time activists of the party, was also being supported by members of the party, and that they sometimes help him with a few kilos of rice or a stack of bananas. Opposition politicians question how ethical is it for a wealthy politician to accept such support from poor members of the Party.

The declarations of assets submitted by JVP leaders such as Foreign Affairs Minister Vijitha Herath and the Deputy Minister of Vocational Education Nalin Hewage have also been questioned by Opposition politicians.

An interesting point here is that these details of assets owned by JVP leaders were not exposures by the Opposition parties or the media; rather, they have been declared to the CIABOC by the respective JVP leaders themselves. And Samarasinghe claims that he inherited most of his wealth from his parents, and the rest consists of improvements on what he inherited, as well as his own earnings. Interestingly, nobody contested his claims.