For the first time in Sri Lanka’s history, the country finds itself under the leadership of a president—Anura Kumara Dissanayake—who hails from a party with a left-leaning background. However, despite the media’s portrayal of him as a “leftist” leader, his actions in office during these initial weeks reveal a starkly different reality. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and its populist front, the National People’s Power (NPP), which once championed center-left rhetoric, have dramatically veered to the right since taking power. Their election promises—based on modestly progressive reforms—have been swiftly abandoned in favor of a continuation of the neoliberal agenda that previous regimes enforced.
This betrayal is rooted in the internal contradictions within the NPP itself. In its attempt to broaden its appeal by attracting popular individuals and groups from across the political spectrum, the JVP empowered an anti-leftist faction within the NPP coalition. This faction, steeped in social democracy and buoyed by the support of certain sections of the petty bourgeoisie and capitalists, has shifted the NPP away from any serious commitment to socialism or left-wing politics. Instead, the NPP now espouses the same capitalist policies that have plagued the country for decades, exacerbating the crisis for the working class.
From Reformism to Neoliberalism
Before the election, the NPP’s platform included proposals such as renegotiating the IMF’s Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA), cancelling corrupt deals like the one with Adani conglomerate, and halting the privatization of critical sectors, including telecommunications, petroleum, and energy. These policies, despite its limitations, at least in principle, offered a modest challenge to neoliberal orthodoxy. Yet, once Anura Kumara Dissanayake assumed office, these promises were swiftly discarded. The government’s approach now mirrors the policies of former president Ranil Wickremesinghe—a complete and uncritical continuation of IMF-backed neoliberalism.
This betrayal extends beyond the NPP. Other left-wing parties in Sri Lanka have also faltered. The Frontline Socialist Party (FSP), New Democratic Marxist-Leninist Party (NDMLP), and Socialist People’s Front (SPF) formed the People’s Struggle Alliance (PSA) with activists from the “Aragalaya” movement. However, without a coherent political agreement, this alliance is riddled with contradictions, incapable of presenting a clear alternative to the public. Meanwhile, the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) remains isolated, dogmatically sectarian, and unable to engage meaningfully with the working class or broader struggles. Every other faction claiming to be left-wing is aligning itself with the NPP on the basis of lesser evilism.
The collective failure of these groups to put forward a clear Marxist programme has left a dangerous political vacuum within Sri Lanka’s left-wing politics. This vacuum has paved the way for the continued imposition of neoliberal policies that are deepening the suffering of the masses. In response to this, the United Socialist Party (USP) has decided to contest the upcoming general elections. Despite our relatively small size and the exhaustion of running a recent presidential campaign, we believe it is our revolutionary duty to fill this gap with a genuine Marxist alternative.
A Marxist Programme to Challenge Neoliberalism
The USP is the only party in Sri Lanka offering a practical, Marxist alternative to the IMF’s neoliberal agenda. Our platform is built on several key pillars that address the roots of the crisis and provide real solutions for the working class.
1. Refusal to Pay and Debt Cancellation
At the heart of our program lies the refusal to pay all debts. We demand immediate debt cancellation, grounded in the principles of odious debt, climate justice, and reparations for colonial plunder. Sri Lanka’s debt, which now stands at nearly 99.83% of GDP, is the product of predatory lending. The international financial institutions, fully aware of the corrupt leadership and unsustainable nature of the country’s finances, facilitated this debt trap. The result has been disastrous: instead of improving the lives of ordinary people, these loans were funnelled into vanity projects like luxury shopping malls, hotels, and land reclamation schemes. Meanwhile, essential sectors such as healthcare, education, and public infrastructure have been systematically starved of funding.
Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 response highlighted these failures. Hospitals were overrun, lacking basic medical supplies and equipment. The primary and secondary education systems collapsed, leaving millions of students without access to quality education, and our universities were unable to meet the demand for higher education. Today, Sri Lanka ranks among the nations with the highest daily work-related stress, and young workers are burdened by the lack of affordable housing. All the while, the IMF continues to demand more austerity, which only perpetuates the vicious cycle of debt and cuts to public services.
We reject this trajectory entirely. The path of debt repayment will only worsen the crisis. Instead, we stand for debt justice and cancellation, linking our struggle with workers and poor of other Global South countries similarly ensnared in the web of international financial exploitation.
2. Building a Planned Economy and Nationalizing Key Industries
Capitalism has unequivocally failed the people of Sri Lanka. Our alternative is a planned economy, where key industries such as energy, banks, telecommunications, and transportation are nationalized under democratic workers’ control. This is not state ownership for its own sake but a means of ensuring that these vital sectors serve the public good, not private profit.
Capital controls are essential to preventing so-called “investors” and capitalists from offshoring wealth produced by the exploited working class. These business elites have taken full advantage of tax subsidies and other state resources, reaping profits while ordinary people foot the bill.
A planned economy would enable the expansion of the public sector, creating jobs that the weak Sri Lankan capitalist class has failed to provide. Moreover, price controls must be enacted to prevent capitalists from artificially inflating the cost of essential goods such as rice, sugar, and other staples. Sri Lanka’s oligarchs have exploited the crisis to hike prices, holding the country hostage to their profit-making schemes. A planned economy ensures resources are used based on need, not market whims.
3. Rapid Action to Address the Cost of Living Crisis
The current cost of living crisis cannot wait. Our program calls for immediate support to the most vulnerable communities, ensuring access to food, healthcare, education, and secure employment. Over 24.8% of Sri Lanka’s population currently lives below the poverty line. The working class, particularly women and youth, are struggling to survive under the weight of spiralling inflation. We aim to alleviate this crisis through direct intervention, ensuring that no one is left behind.
4. No to the IMF and the Call for International Solidarity
We categorically reject the IMF and its austerity measures. The IMF is an instrument of global capital, designed to extract wealth to enrich the profit mongers. The neoliberal reforms it imposes—cutting social services, privatizing state assets, and driving down wages—only deepen the misery of ordinary people.
The crisis in Sri Lanka is not an isolated incident but part of a global capitalist crisis affecting countries across the Global South. From Pakistan to Bangladesh, from the Maldives to Lebanon, the same patterns of debt dependency and imperialist exploitation are visible. Our solution lies in building international solidarity. We propose forming a united front with workers in other countries facing similar challenges to demand debt cancellation, reparations, and a new, just economic order.
5. Wealth Redistribution and Economic Justice
The capitalist class has grown rich off the exploitation of the masses, and it is time for them to pay. We propose an annual wealth tax on the richest individuals and corporations, with the proceeds used to rebuild public services—housing, healthcare, education, and transport. This is not charity; it is justice. The wealthy have profited from a system that has impoverished millions. Now, they must pay back.
Additionally, we call for the implementation of strict tax reforms that will ensure the recovery of taxes owed by major corporations and capitalists who have evaded their obligations.
Though tax reform as an emergency economic measure can provide some relief, this alone will not resolve the long-term problems that workers, farmers, students, and the poor are facing. We must implement pro-worker policies, socialist policies, to free the masses from the grotesque grip of capitalism. The formation of a worker-led government will be necessary to implement such policies.
6. National Question
We have consistently upheld a Marxist position on the national question in Sri Lanka, advocating for the right to self-determination of Tamil-speaking people while safeguarding rights of all minorities. While the JVP/NPP denies the national question, and the PSA only vaguely proposes self-governance under unitary state, our approach is clear. We recognize the necessity of addressing national oppression as part of building united class struggle. We emphasize workers unity to build a class struggle that will also aim to deliver all democratic rights including that of national rights.
Conclusion: The Crisis of Capitalism and the Need for Revolution
The crisis in Sri Lanka is not merely a financial crisis; it is a crisis of capitalism itself. For decades, the country, like much of the Global South, has been trapped in a system of debt-fuelled neoliberal exploitation. The result has been a humanitarian catastrophe, with millions pushed deeper into poverty while the capitalist class continues to profit.
Our solution is clear: a Marxist programme that rejects the logic of debt and imperialism, and instead builds a society based on human need, not capitalist greed. The struggle we wage is not only for Sri Lanka but for all nations labouring under the crushing weight of global capitalism.
We call on workers, students, and all progressive forces to join us in this fight. Together, we can build a socialist Sri Lanka, socialist south Asian confederation and a socialist world.
