By Noor Nizam. Sri Lanka Peace Activist and Freelance Journalist, Canada. Saturday, February 13th., 2010.

The run up to the general elections are already getting heated up. The overwhelming majority the UPFA/HE.Mahinda Rajapaksa received, stands a stumbling block to the JVP to enter parliament even with 6 or 7 seats.

Campaign strategies are needed, but the JVP definitely knows that the UNP coming on itƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s elephant symbol will never bring votes from among the opposition voters to the JVP. UNPers do not vote the Marxists because they are opposition. UNPers vote ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-greenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ because they are UNP. The ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-SwanƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ was a hope against the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-BellƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ for them to deceive the rural masses, but the stand taken by the UNP stalwarts to contest under the Elephant symbol has busted the JVP conspiracy against robbing the UNP votes and planning to deceptively enter parliament with as many JVP members as possible, the same way they ate into the SLFP votes in 2004 by joining the SLFP alliance to contest the then general elections and robbed the UPFA of 39 seats in the parliament.

Since the formation of the JVP in 1965 with the aim of providing a leading representation for a Socialist force in Sri Lanka, the JVP, a nationalist Marxist political party originated as a extremely violent terrorist group attempting to overthrow the elected government of Sri Lanka. The Sirimavo Bandaranaike government in the 1971 and the UNP governments in the 1981 and 1987, completely crushed their rebel violence adventures and killed comrade Rohana Wijeweera in a similar episode as to the end of the LTTE leader Prabaharan, the magnitude been smaller, the reason being the military might and size of the JVP being little compared to the LTTE.

The respect of Democracy and the belief in the democratic institutions of parliament and governance by the peace loving people of Sri Lanka (which the dam West still refuses to understand), the JVP has had the chance to re-emerge as the main voice of the Sinhala Nationalism and has become a significant ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-third voiceƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ in electoral politics since the mid 90s. In the 2005 presidential elections, the JVP main slogan of Sinhala Nationalism, Socialism and Buddhist identity, gave leverage to the victory of HE.Mahinda Rajapaksa at the presidential elections.

Since the parting of the JVP from the UPFA Alliance for reasons others, but the actual being the unwillingness of HE. Mahinda Rajapaksa to give consideration to an agreement that Mangala Samaraweera be appointed Prime Minister. One of the main conditions that the JVP put forward to join the government in 2006 was that Mangala Samaraweera be appointed Prime Minister. It was strange for the JVP to be recommending at tat time who the SLFP Prime Minister should be. Given the separate identity of the JVP has and its own agenda, it is not surprising that President Mahinda Rajapakse refused to accede to the JVPƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s request that Mangala be appointed Prime Minister. They were a coalition partner, and coalition partners have every right to recommend candidates. But to make their support conditional upon someone being appointed to a given post, is going much too far. The PresidentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s objective was and is to strengthen the SLFP and not to weaken it the way Chandrika did during her period. Had President Rajapakse succumbed to JVP pressure in appointing a Prime Minister then, that would have been the end of the SLFP as thereafter, every SLFPer wanting a better post would have been going behind the JVP to do their bargaining for them.

Failing with all these, the main political popularity blow to the JVP was when HE. Mahinda RajapaksaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s vision of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Mahinda ChinthanayaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ became not only a document, but a reality in deeds within a span of 4 years, since his elected ascend to office as President in 2005. The victory of the war with the advances from Maavilaru in the East to the Nandikadal lagoon in the North, a task he shouldered as the Commander of the Armed forces, and fully assisted by his patriotic brother, Secretary of Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa, with a vision of launching a humanitarian war to liberate the Tamil people from the crutches of a brutal terror group and the Nation from violence that was plaguing the country for nearly 30 long years, the JVP was washed aside to the unknown terrains of political darkness when the people, specially the Sinhala majority saw the reality of true Sinhala Nationalism, Socialism and Buddhist identity in HE. Mahinda Rajapaksa in the aftermath of the victory of the LTTE on the 17th., of May 2009.

To the Sri Lankans, he was the hero, the leader and the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-politician with gutsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- a politician with a back boneƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ to stand and tell the Western powers ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-back offƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ we Sri Lankans know what to do and how to manage our affairs, both politically and economically, administering the best bilateral and international relations with member states of the UN and others. Still to the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-PATRIOTSƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ he was the reality of TRUE FREEDOM. This was the reality of HE. Mahinda RajapaksaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s recent victory at the Presidential Elections 2010 on January the 26th, when the President received almost 6,015934 or 57.88% of the votes polled and his contender, common opposition candidate, General (retired) Sarath Fonseka, has received 4,173185 votes or 40.15%. The majority was 1.842 million votes in all.

It is this political popularity dilemma of HE. President Mahinda Rajapaksa being accepted as the true identity of Sinhala Nationalism, Socialism and Buddhist leader that has hit the nail on the JVP after January the 26th., 2010.

The JVP will search for and find all avenues of political expeditions to hang on to itƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s , now dream world of being the Sinhala Nationalism, Socialism and Buddhist brokerage ideological representatives of the Sri Lankan Nation. The JVP will not only stoop to levels of abducting and assaulting a disabled soldier who backed Fonseka and leaving him along the road side, but may even kill little children of our patriotic ranaviru and their mothers and hang them on light posts too for public to see and blame the democratic and popular HE. Mahinda Rajapaksa and his presidency. The JVP will try to use to these deceptive political acts in order to try to gain back their lost popularity. This is what the JVP is all about now struggling to try to win at least a few seats in the forth coming general elections, when it will not have the Swan or the Elephant, but only the Bell left to contest as itƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s symbol. HE. MahindaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s bettlw leaf will send almost 148 members of parliament to the legislature on April the 8th., 2010 bt the grace of God AllMighty and the will of the Nation and people proud to be called Sri Lankans.