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JVP to decide on ‘May Day rally’ today

27 Apr 2021

  • JVP, SLFP to celebrate in alternate ways

  The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) is set to take a final decision today (27) on whether or not it will conduct its party May Day rally, as previously announced, disregarding a ban on May Day rallies imposed by the Government. Speaking to The Morning, former JVP Parliamentarian and incumbent JVP Politburo Member Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said that the party would take a decision today about the celebration of May Day. “We don’t have any intention to have a rally during this Covid-19 pandemic; however, we believe that we will celebrate May Day in some other way.” JVP Leader and MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake had previously said that the Government’s cancellation of May Day rallies was based on political reasons rather than health-related reasons. Dissanayake also said that the JVP has decided to celebrate May Day, despite National Operations Centre for the Prevention of the Covid-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO) Head Gen. Shavendra Silva’s announcement that all May Day rallies will be cancelled. According to Dissanayake, the statement by Gen. Silva that the leaders of all major political parties had agreed to cancel May Day rallies was false as the JVP had not agreed to such a decision. Last year, the JVP cancelled their May Day celebrations due to Covid-19. However, Dissanayake said that now the country has opened up despite Covid-19 and that many other public gatherings have taken place, including the President’s Gama Samaga Pilisandarak (Dialogue with the Village) programme. The JVP claimed that this decision to cancel was made by the Government because of the political pressure the Government itself is facing and the fact that they are unable to organise their own May Day rally. Before the decision to cancel May Day events was announced, ruling coalition government partner, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) had announced its intention to hold a separate rally outside of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP)-led alliance. Meanwhile, the SLFP also revealed that the party would celebrate May Day even without a rally.  


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