page_title: Lanka Sama Samaja Party
section_title: New Programme and adoption of Constitution
hierarchical_section_title: Lanka Sama Samaja Party / History / Fourth International / New Programme and adoption of Constitution
caption_attribution_description: English: LSSP Strike wave – Likely 1940s.
context_page_description: The Lanka Sama Samaja Party, often abbreviated as LSSP is a major Trotskyist political party in Sri Lanka. It was the first political party in Sri Lanka, having been founded in 1935 by Leslie Goonewardene, N.M. Perera, Colvin R. de Silva, Philip Gunawardena and Robert Gunawardena. It currently is a member of the main ruling coalition in the government of Sri Lanka and is headed by Tissa Vitharana. The party was founded with Marxist-Leninst ideals, and is classified as a party with Socialist aims.
  The LSSP emerged as a major political force in the Sri Lankan independence movement during the 1940s, during which time the party was forced to go underground due to its opposition to the British war effort. The party played an instrumental role in the Indian independence and later Quit India Movement through the Bolshevik–Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and Burma. Through its efforts, India gained Independence from Britain in 1947, followed by Sri Lanka in 1948.
  In the late early 1950s, the LSSP took the lead in organising the Hartal strike, caused by vast food price inflation by the UNP government. At the time, J.R. Jayawardena was the finance minister of the country.
context_section_description: On 20 April 1941, a secret conference in Kandy, attended by 42 delegates, was held. Leslie Goonewardene, who was in hiding, attended this conference at which the new programme and constitution were adopted. The cover organisation of the party enabled him to work for a period of one year and three months till he left for India. An openly functioning section of the party was established, led by Robert Gunawardena, S.C.C. Anthonipillai, V. Karalasingham, K.V. Lourenz Perera and William de Silva. The 'open' section of the party led a strike wave in May 1941 and strikes in 1942 and 1944.
caption: Image of an LSSP strike wave