For the first time in history, the Sri Lankan communists have been able to secure a whooping 56% votes and are now able to form a leftist government in Sri Lanka.
The Jathika Vimukti Peramuna was found in 1956, with a strong affiliation for Maoism. They created cells throughout the country, educating the working class on Marxist theories before launching an insurrection in 1971, and then again in 1987. Though both of them failed in the long run, they managed to create significant ideological impact.
In 1987, the party faced an ideological change where they broke away from Mao Zedong Thought and instead gained allegiance from the Soviet Union. They decided to participate in electoral processes which gained them a more positive attention from the general public.
JVP went through a series of successive state repressions, to the point of being almost completely wiped out. It was eventually resurrected by Amerasinghe in 1999. From that point on the JVP slowly built up its base again, while facing sudden internal strife between social democratic thoughts and hardcore socialist outlook.
The party remained active throughout the economic crisis of Sri Lanka, and its activities has eventually born fruit.
The new president of Sri Lanka is Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the leader of JVP.
So let me get this straight. They broke away from pre-Deng China and instead friendlied up with Gorbachev-run, post-Perestroika USSR?
lol yeah not the best move on their part
Cold war communist politics was very messy...
Socialism was at it's lowest point in the 80s, not a great time to pick sides.