Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)
Socialist Equality Party Samajavadi Samanatha Pakshaya | |
|---|---|
| Sinhala name | සමාජවාදී සමානතා පක්ෂය |
| Tamil name | சோசலிச சமத்துவக் கட்சி |
| General Secretary | Deepal Jayasekera |
| Founder | Keerthi Balasooriya |
| Founded | 1968 as Revolutionary Communist League, 1996 as Socialist Equality Party |
| Split from | Lanka Sama Samaja Party (Revolutionary) |
| Preceded by | Revolutionary Communist League |
| Headquarters | 795 1/1, Matiambalama Junction, Kotte Road, Kotte |
| Newspaper | Loka Samajavadi Web Adavi Vimarshana (printed version of its central organ, WSWS), Tholilalar Pathai, Kamkaru Mawatha |
| Student wing | International Youth and Students for Social Equality |
| Ideology | Communism Trotskyism |
| Political position | Far-left |
| International affiliation | International Committee of the Fourth International |
| Election symbol | |
| Pair of Scissors | |
| Website | |
| socialequality.lk www.wsws.org | |
The Socialist Equality Party is a Trotskyist political party in Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1968 as the Revolutionary Communist League by former student members of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (Revolutionary) who joined the International Committee of the Fourth International. They remained loyal to Gerry Healy until the majority of the International split from his organisation. Since the death of its founder and leader Keerthi Balasooriya in December 1987, Wije Dias assumed the leadership. In 1996, it changed its name to the Socialist Equality Party, in line with other members of the surviving ICFI. In the 2005 Sri Lankan presidential election, the party's candidate, Wije Dias, came 11th of 13 candidates, with 3,500 votes (0.04%).
It publishes analyses on political, economic and other issues, and runs election campaigns via the World Socialist Web Site.