Several years ago, May Day was an event that gave inspiration to the people because of the catchy slogans and expressions made at rallies and meetings. There were two clear divisions in those May Day rallies – the ruling party and the Opposition. The ruling party commented on the work they have rendered so far and also about the future plans, while the Opposition always criticised the Government and expressed their views on what they would do if they came into power.
People were inspired through the slogans made in May Day demonstrations, various activities by those participating in the rallies and the number of people attending the meetings. At that time too, the most attractive demonstrations were staged by the Left. But the Covid-19 pandemic, the economic crisis situation and the ‘Aragalaya’ had taken away that ‘glamour’ of the May Day rallies held in previous years. It had also become just a day like the New Year, Christmas, Ramadan, Deepavali, Vesak, Poson, and so on in the calendar.
But the people who celebrated all recent national celebrations and festivals, had a grand celebration at this year’s May Day. It seems that all political parties came forward to celebrate May Day before the forthcoming Presidential Elections (PE), which should be held before the end of October. Therefore, it seems that this year’s May Day has been celebrated by all political parties with great enthusiasm, after a lapse of a few years.
As usual, each political party claims that their May Day rally was the best among others. However, choosing the best rally has become difficult due to various reasons like the number of people participating, the venue, its space and the difficulty in handling and controlling the crowd brought by vehicles/buses from different parts of the country.
At the same time, it seems that the size of the crowd of a rally is often determined by the different angles taken by photographers and videographers covering the May Day rallies and also how the media reports those showing different angles. It is also no secret that some media personnel and video editors use editing tricks to show ‘massive’ crowds.
Aragalaya
The meeting of the Samagi Jana Balawega (SJB) was held at Chatham Street, Colombo Fort, which is close to the protesting site of the Aragalaya, the Presidential Secretariat and the President’s House which were occupied by the protesters during the Aragalaya.
Compared to 2022, today the area is calm while all Government institutions are functioning well. The SJB’s meeting was held in a place, with the memories of the Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, who went to the Aragalaya site to support the protestors, only to be chased away.
The meeting of the National People’s Power (NPP) was held at the Lipton roundabout, which is also close to Temple Trees, close to those Aragalaya sites. The Armed Forces made a great effort to protect former President Mahinda Rajapaksa from attacks by the protestors, who had surrounded Temple Trees. Later he was taken to a Naval base in Trincomalee by a special plane. National People’s Power (NPP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) was also initially subjected to heated arguments thrown at him by the protestors but later he was welcomed by them.
The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) or the Pohottuwa held its May Day meeting at the Campbell Park in Borella. The Pohottuwa had remained mostly inactive since 2022 as houses belonging to their local politicians were set on fire on May 9 that year. However, the SLPP was able to celebrate the May Day rally with a massive participation of their supporters.
In the morning on May 1, United National Party (UNP) Leader and President Ranil Wickremesinghe participated in the May Day rally of the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) held at Kotagala in Nuwara Eliya. In the evening he attended the UNP’s May Day rally held at Maligawatta, Colombo. During the Aragalaya period, many lawyers who supported the anti-Government protests, held demonstrations close to the ‘Aluthkade’ (Hulftsdorp) courts complex, which is at the Technical Junction, Maligawatta.
The people of Sri Lanka were particularly interested in this May Day to know what kind of statements would be made by political party leaders on the country’s future. Addressing the SJB’s meeting, Premadasa revealed the changes that would be brought if his party comes into power.
The NPP’s AKD, explaining about the intended changes that his party would make if they come into power, said “we expect a disciplined people’s power”. When recalling this statement, many people will remember how people were motivated by K.D. Lalkantha and Sunil Handunnetti to raid Parliament. When both Premadasa and AKD were addressing at the May Day rallies people felt that they were speaking as if they had already won the presidency. Some saw it as them addressing the nation. Nominations for the PE have not even been called yet.
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that no one else could win the PE except for a candidate blessed by his party. However, the fact that they did not announce their own candidate at this rally attracted public attention. He said although they had faced many incidents, the SLPP was still the political party of the majority of the people in the country.
President Wickremesinghe made a very clear statement before the nation while addressing the May Day rally. Two years ago everyone was in crisis but today everything had changed. He questioned whether this situation, where May Day rallies could be held within Colombo, was not bringing real democracy for the country. All crises are not over. But a clear path has now been opened to end the crises and develop the country. Requesting all political party leaders to join hands with him to achieve those targets, he said he is ready to support and reach for concrete agreements for that.
One post that went viral on social media said that there are two winners in this year’s May Day – the SLPP and the UNP. It was also mentioned in the post that the UNP, which seemed to have disappeared from politics after the formation of the SJB, has become a people’s force that gathers all UNPers again. The same post says that Pohottuwa, which saw a decrease in its popularity after the Aragalaya, has also become a people’s force today.
However, it seems difficult to decide the “winner” of this year’s May Day celebrations. Although the SJB was able to gather a large crowd, the way SJB Parliamentarian Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka left the meeting shortly after it began and the notable absence of SJB’s stalwarts Rajitha Senaratne, Thalatha Athukorala and Rishad Badurdeen- at the meeting reflected not the progress of the SJB but its downfall. Isn’t the number of people re-joining the UNP gradually increasing due to the fact that the SJB does not hold sway anymore?
Endorsement
Lalkantha said that the NPP will select the country’s Executive President in future via the Members elected to Parliament. Those who listened to his statement say that it is clearly an endorsement by the NPP on how President Wickremesinghe became the President back in 2022.
Even though the NPP said that all the three meetings held in Colombo, Matara and Anuradhapura were successful, it does not say that the Jaffna May Day rally was successful. It is as if the May Day rally bluntly stated the reason why the NPP cannot win a PE. After all, former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the only President who won a PE (in 2019) mainly with Sinhala-Buddhist votes.
President Wickremesinghe did not hold his May Day rally by displaying all his strength. Those who were ready to leave the SJB and join the UNP were also not given an opportunity to join yet. He had asked them to be patient for some more time. The faction headed by Parliamentarian Nimal Lanza, who is already playing a significant role in supporting President Wickremesinghe, was also not invited to Colombo’s May Day meeting.
Although several North and East-based political parties have pledged their support to the President, they have also not been invited for the Colombo May Day rally. By taking this stance, he showed that not only other political parties but also most of the SJBers, who were former UNPers, have also joined him today.
Therefore, I leave it to you to decide the winner of May Day 2024.
