At that time, only the Communist Party backed Hector Kobbekaduwa. There were others in the field - the incumbent President J.R. Jayawardena, Kumar Ponnambalam, Dr. Colvin R de Silva, Vasudewa Nanayakkara and Rohana Wijeweera.

I can well remember how people of the North (Jaffna and Vavunia Districts) responded to our call by giving the highest preference to Hector Kobbekaduwa with 100,521 votes while Kumar Ponnambalam secured 98,784 votes. J.R. Jayawardena got 77,614 votes. Sixty seven per cent of the valid votes polled in the North were cast in favour of Sinhalese candidates.

This was a period when national unity prevailed despite political and ideological differences. At the people’s level, national unity and communal harmony prevailed at its zenith. Black July of 1983 totally destroyed that unity. Much water has flowed under the bridges of Sri Lanka, since then in the last 26 years.

Today we are back in politics in the North with sad memories but with full of optimism. I do not propose even to recollect that painful, and miserable past during this healing and reconciliation period.

Comrades and friends,

At the outset, it is my duty to remember with respect and honour the founding and distinguished leaders of the Communist Movement in the North - Comrades T. Duraisingham, A. Vaidyalimgam, P. Kandiah, S. Jeyasingham, N. Shanmugathasan, A. Ariyaratnam, V. Ponnambalam, M. Karthigesu, S.P. Nadarajah, and M.C. Subramaniam etc. who nourished and built the Communist Movement in the North. Veteran Trade Union leaders, K.C. Nythyanandan, C. Coomaraswamy, P. Coomaraswamy, S. Chelliah, S. Kathiravel, K. Navaratnam, S. Wijayanandan who were associated with Left Movement.

The Communist Party is the only left Party which had members in Parliament representing the North three in all - P. Kandiah, M.C. Subramaniam, and K. Navaratnam of course at different periods.

But the origin of the Left Movement goes as far back as 1920s. Only a few know the fact that Ponnambalam Arunachalam was the first Sri Lankan who broke the news of the Great October Socialist Revolution in 1917 which ushered in an era of struggle for national liberation in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

It was in this context that the Jaffna Student Congress and later Jaffna Youth Congress led by Handy Perinpanayagam came into being with a radical programme in 1924. The birth of All-Ceylon Youth Congress in 1931 and Sooriya Mal Movement in 1933 were further developments of that struggle for total independence. Our founding leader Dr. S.A. Wickramasinghe was a leader of both movements.

The formation of the first Left Party - the Lanka Sama Samaja Party in 1935 and later the Communist Party in 1943 were all extensions of that movement on firmer ideological orientation.

Today, we are meeting here in Jaffna after the end of a 26 year prolonged war. Terrorism operated for over 30 years. No one can be happy over what had happened during this period. The loss of precious lives, destruction to the property, the economic ruin, prolonged suffering of the people, especially the lowest segments of the society, degeneration of culture, emergence of cult of violence, collapse of good governance, complete collapse of national unity and integration, emergence of chauvinism both in North and the South, emergence of an underworld, were all products and by-products of all what happened thereafter.

I do not want to be disrespectful to the departed leaders of any community or the rulers who guided the destines of our nation - Sri Lanka. This is a period of healing and reconciliation. I do not propose to unearth those unfortunate events. But there are facts of history which we cannot forget (even if we forgive) and from which we must draw necessary lessons if we are to reemerge from this catastrophe and move forward.

In retrospect, as a student of history, I must confess and reveal that our national leaders since Independence failed to lead in their task of nation-building. History offered us many opportunities and we missed them all.

Absence of a national consensus has been the main cause of our failure even to date.

As far as our Party - Communist Party of Sri Lanka is concerned, we identified the national question from its conception. In fact, the concept of regional autonomy (devolution of power, in today’s context) was introduced to the contemporary politics of our country by our Party. It was based on a scientific analysis of socio-economic - cultural realities and also international experience.

The ruling bourgeoisie Parties since Independence failed to comprehend these realities and were carried away by petty-narrow political interests. They abdicated their historical responsibility in the task of nation-building.

It was so in the case of bourgeoisie Tamil leaders in the North (both Tamil Congress and Federal Party). They played a conservative or reactionary role in the realm of politics, prioritizing their tasks to their narrow class interests.

Naturally, they were all identified with reactionary and conservative political positions - They opposed everything progressive thereby distancing themselves from the people in the South.

Failure to find a solution to the National Question brought about a change in the political leadership of the Tamil people from the bourgeoisie to the petty-bourgeoisie in 1980s.

Unfortunately, the right-wing of the petty - bourgeoisie took over the leadership which later claimed itself as the sole representative of the Tamil people. It embarked on a path of violence, terrorism, separatism based on ultra-nationalism and even chauvinism.

The left-wing Parties who opted for national unity, for a democratic path of development, for a political solution within the framework of a united Sri Lanka were all marginalized, eliminated, or destroyed. Even the moderate bourgeoisie leaders were not spared. The bridge between the North and the South at the level of the people and at the level of the progressive forces collapsed.

We of the Left Movement - C.P. and L.S.S.P. who from its inception fought for the cause of the national minorities, for national unity, and who gave their lives for the implementation of the 13th. Amendment were too not spared. 54 of our leaders at various levels, and in various fields were killed by the J.V.P. and the L.T.T.E.

Five of the last victims of the L.T.T.E. at the Akuressa tragedy were our young District leaders of our Party who were the elected people’s representatives.

Amazing and mysterious fact of history is that the L.T.T.E. did not touch the J.V.P. despite its venomous anti Tamil and anti-Indian, anti-L.T.T.E. political positions. History of course provides evidence that the extremists of either side always nourish and nurture each other for their mutual existence and survival.

n the last 30 years, Sinhalese chauvinists in the South and Tamil chauvinism in the North survived, thrived and flourished at the expense of the Left Movement and progressive forces. The country thereby lost sense of direction, moderation, sanity, amity and unity.

Our Party never embraced terrorism or violence as a means of capturing power. Nor did we ever resort to thuggery, intimidatation, and violence in order to further our aims. Our hands are not stained with blood.

Our Party has always been patriotic. Equally, our Party was internationalist. Patriotism and Internationalism are two sides of the same coin for above all we stand for humanism.

We introduced the concept of socialism to this country. Equally true it was our Party which introduced the socialist countries to our country. It is our Party which initiated struggles against caste system both in the South and the North, a legacy of exploiting feudalism.

We made our people more enlightened removing from their minds, myths, mysterious beliefs, obscurantism.

Now that war has come to an end, history has bestowed on us another opportunity - golden opportunity - to struggle for national unity, bring an end to discrimination, and injustice and ensure equality and social justice, and social development.

At the end of the war, the Gross Domestic Product of the Northern Province was only 2.9% of the National G.D.P. Even the North Central and Uva Provinces which were adjacent to the War Zone had only 4% of the G.D.P. The effect of the war was not restricted to the North and East. On the other hand the Western Province accounted for 51% of the G.D.P. This was not only due to the war but also due to the policy of neo-liberalism introduced by the U.N.P.

This position has been altered during the last 4 years with policy changes by way of the expansion of the rural economy and regional development, infrastructure development, small and medium enterprises etc.

That is why we are giving the highest priority to the infrastructure development in the North and the East. Civil administration needs to be restored. People should be given the opportunity to elect their leaders to grass-root level institutions.

As a representative of the Communist Party in the Cabinet, I wish to inform you that within the last three years our Government has taken bold and decisive steps to implement Tamil as Official Language. It is now being speedily implemented.

These initiatives, I believe, will create the conducive atmosphere to facilitate our search for a lasting political solution. Admittedly, there is a big gap between the Sinhala and Tamil society. We must bridge this gap, at the people’s level. Mutual fear, distrust and suspicion have to be eliminated. We must not underestimate the fact that despite the intensification of war, 61% of the Tamil-speaking people lived outside the North and East, amongst the Singhalese people without fear and suspicion in spite of security concerns.

I am one of those who voted for the 13th. Amendment. This 13th. Amendment has two aspects - (I) Tamil as Official Language and (II) Devolution of Power.

Our Party’s position is 13th. Amendment plus. We are committed to it and we stand by it.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa took a bold step to make Tamil compulsory for the new recruits to the Public Service. This is where his predecessors failed to implement or they did not have the courage to do it.

No President or Prime Minister in this Country has done so much within 3 years to implement Tamil as Official Language. There will not be a language issue once our short-term and long-term measures that are being implemented bear fruits. There is now a better environment for speedier and fuller implementation of the 13th. Amendment.

I am confident that we are today in a better political environment to find a lasting solution to the nation question acceptable to all the communities.

Who could be trusted, Mahinda Rajapaksa or General Sarath Fonseka?

Mahinda Rajapaksa is a tried and tested leader. Can you trust a military leader with 40 days’ experience in politics?

With the entry of General Fonseka to politics, a new element has been introduced to our spectrum of politics which will lead not only to militarization of politics but also politicalization of the military.

It is my firm conviction that desired national unity can be ensured only through closer co-operation among the Left, Progressive and Radical forces in the South and those in the North. Terrorism and War weakened the Left and Progressive Movements.

I must take this opportunity to apprise you of the profound changes taking place in the International Scene.

Twenty years back in 1989, when the Berlin Well collapsed (i.e. collapse of socialist East Germany) and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union, bourgeoisie leaders predicted the end of socialism.

Faster than we expected, the world scene is profoundly changing with the emergence of China and India as world economic powers. The centre of world economy is shifting to the continent of Asia, after 500 years of domination by the Western Powers.

The citadels of world capitalism - U.S. and Western Europe have crumbled with the worsening of global financial crisis.

The awakening of Latin America has brought into power thirteen Left and pro-Left Parties. This has changed the balance of forces in the continent of America.

New Economic centres, Brazil in Latin America, South Africa in the African continent, and Russia in Euro-Asia together with China and India in Asia have completely changed the balance in the world economic powers.

Power of the Dollar has weakened. 75% of the world foreign exchange reserves today belong to the developing countries. One third of the world foreign exchange reserve is now owned by China.

These are the new realities of World developments. This is why the Western Powers failed to have their own say and their own way in the recent sessions on the matters relating to Sri Lanka.

The World Left Movement has revived. There is today the globalization of solidarity amongst Communist, Socialist and Left Parties.

J.V.P. was riding high on the waves of Sinhala chauvinism and the so-called Indian expansionism. That phenomenon is now on the decline. The internal contradictions within the J.V.P. have led to several splits. It has now entered into alliance with the U.N.P. under a military leader.

The Left forces both in the South and the North have today jointly entered the Presidential Election campaign in support of Mahinda Rajapaksa. There is no other option, taking into the objective realities - the change in the world balance of forces, the balance of political and social forces in Sri Lanka, the performance of Mahinda Rajapaksa regime during the last four years, potential danger of military rule with the entry of General Sarath Fonseka, direct and indirect interference by the Western Powers in Sri Lankan affairs, and the growing need for a united Left Movement embracing both South and North.

I take this opportunity to extend my hand to the people of the North to join the people of the South to bring about much needed national unity in this Country.

I extend my hand of comradeship to our comrades in the North, to all forces belonging to the Left Movement to re-build and re-unite the Left Movement of our Country. This is the decisive factor.

There is re-thinking on the part of Sinhala, Tamil, and Muslim people on firmer grounds. A new environment is being created. Let us seize this golden opportunity offered to us.
Thanks.