INTERNATIONAL BACKS EMERGENCY CONGRESS IN CEYLON .
[The United Secretariat of the Fourth International sent the. following letter to the Emergency Conference of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party {Revolutionary Section), scheduled to be held in Colombo July 18-19,
Dear Comrades,
The United “Secretariat of the Fourth International, in behalf of the world Trotskyist movement, expresses warmest fraternal greetings to your gathering. Your firm stand in support of the basic principles of revolutionary socialism in face of the. blow struck by N.M.Perera.and the figures associated with him has been hailed by Trotskyists everywhere, Your principled actions have clearly demonstrated that you represent the revolutionary socialist future of the workers and peasants of Ceylon,
In connection with your struggle, the United Secretariat of the Fourth International has passed the following motions in addition to the. ones contained in its declaration made public June 22:
. (1) To approve the decision that was made to hold a oconfer-._ ence at the "Workmen!s Resort" in Colombo on June 7.
(2) To approve the decision of those present at this conference to "hereafter function as the L.S.S.P.(R.S.) on the basis of
the programme of the L.S.S,P. which had been abandoned" by the group headed by N.M,Perera, - .
(3) To approve the election by this conference of a Provi-~sional Committee, -
(4) To approve the scheduling of an Emergency Conference of the L.S.S,.P.(R.S.) for the purpose of electing the permanent bodies of the party and carrying out other tasks proper to such a confer- © ence,
(5) To recognize this Emergency Conference as officially constituting the continuing body of the Trotskyist movement in Ceylon and to empower it to speak for and conduct any matters pertaining to the seotion of the Fourth International in Ceylon,
.(6). To approve the continued publication by the .L.S.S.P,(R.S.) of the Singhalese language weekly Sama Samajaya in accordance with the positions adopted by the Reunification Congress,
(7) To appeal once again to all those who voted for Perera!s proposal to enter a bourgeois coalition government, or who have not yet broken with him because of fear of a "split," to rally to the L.S.S.P,(R.S.) which is the only organization in Ceylon that. stands on the programme on which the Ceylonese Trotskyist movement was founded,
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We should like to make the following brief observations to your Emergency Conference, reserving other points and more extensive remarks for subsequent elaboration:
There is no doubt that the capitulation of N.M.Perera and his group constitutes a serious setback for the Ceylonese vanguard, It can help relieve the political crisis facing the Ceylonese bourgeoisie, In combination with some concessions from the Prime Minis-. ter it oan help. create illusions among a sector of the population about the possibility of reforming capitalism structurally. Thus Perera's policy of supporting and entering a bourgeois coalition government can serve to give Ceylonese capitalism a longer lease on life.
However, the path of concessions and reforms will in reality prove to be a short one in Ceylon. The scope of the problems demand ing solution transcends by far the resources and capacities of the Ceylonese bourgeoisie and landholders, The need to turn to revolu~ tionary solutions will be seen more and more clearly as an imperative that can be postponed only at the risk of political and social disaster, The vanguard will presently be faced with the immense duty and opportunity. of taking power in Ceylon,
In light of this perspective, the prognosis for the Ceylonese Trotskyists is early recovery from the injuries inflicted by the Perera leadership. To assure this, however, it is necessary to draw the proper lessons from the experience, to work with redoubled energy, and to find ways toward common action with other militant currents on the basis of transitional demands. A correct transitional program, it must be stressed, remains of central importance - for resolving the crisis of proletarian leadership in Ceylon...
In this course you can count on the solidarity and comradely support of the entire world Trotskyist movement, which is keenly interested in Ceylon and its future,
At the same time, we are sure that Trotskyists throughout the world feel that the L.S.S.P.(R.S.) will open a new chapter in offering help and support to the Fourth International, As you are well aware, under the previous leadership, fraternal relations were often a matter of lip service, This signified weakening the Fourth International as a world organization and bolstering the rightist tendency in the L.S.S.P. as well as fostering similar nationalist or regional tendencies elsewhere. This disregard of internationalism deepened during the years in which the world movement was split, Observance of the principle ‘of democratic centralism suffered especially.
With the reunification: of the, world movement last year, a stronger force came into. operation against all the centrifugal, nationalist tendencies, which in Ceylon were represented to a high degree by N.M.Perera. This new force could not but appear to the right wing as a danger to their tendency that would surely mount with the firm consolidation, of a reunification based on the revolu-~ tionary-socialist principles laid down at the Reunification Congress, Undoubtedly, the prospect was an additional consideration in their decision to rush into a bourgeois coalition. In their flagrant breach of discipline, the Perera tendency found common ground with tendencies elsewhere in the world, some of them of ultra-left coloration,. whose "Trotskyism" does. not extend to something as serious as ebservance of the principles of democratic centralism,
The L.5,.5.P. (R. S.) has already demonstrated its capacity to live up to these principles, and-its example has thereby strengthened the Fourth International and helped to consolidate the reunification on the basis of the program adopted at the Reunification Congress. We count on your playing a more and more important role in this. respect in the future, : a
You have already made an auspicious beginning, in assuming responsibility for publishing Fourth International, the official theoretical organ of the world Trotskyist movement, With your oooperation we hope now to regularize its appearance “and to make ae the full success it deserves to be, :
-In struggling against the opportunist tendency led by N.M. Perera, the main cadres of. the Ceylonese section of the Fourth International have set an example in which Trotskyists everywhere can take pride, We expect that as you move forward on the basis of what was accomplished and learned in this battle, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (Revolutionary Section) will. not only reconstitute itself as a mass organization based on the principles of revolution-=ary socialism, it will serve this time as a-model in the international arena in helping to construct the Fourth International founded by Leon Trotsky.
Fraternally,
United Secretariat
of .the .Fourth International July 10, 1964
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