In 2022, huge protests against austerity in Sri Lanka forced President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign in disgrace and flee the country as demonstrators occupied the presidential palace. In the wake of these protests, last year’s presidential and parliamentary elections saw a sweeping win for a coalition of leftist parties led by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (People’s Liberation Front).

This session features a discussion with Bashana Abeywardane, a leading member of Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka. We’ll explore the evolution of the JVP from an avowedly revolutionary group that led insurrections in 1971 and 1987-9, to today’s parliamentary orientation. What does the election result mean for workers and the class struggle in Sri Lanka? Will the new government be able to introduce any meaningful change given the challenges facing Sri Lankan capitalism? And what are the implications for the oppressed Tamil community in Sri Lanka, who were subjected to a genocide in 2009 which was supported by the JVP?