(1 May 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
++UPDATES STORYLINE++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Colombo – 1 May 2025
1. Parade marchers carrying sombre placards of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and Vladimir Lenin, symbolising the ideological roots of the movement
2. Various of marching in the parade while shouting slogans and carrying placards against Indian influence and IMF pressure on Sri Lanka’s sovereignty
3. SOUNDBITE (Sinhala) Pubudhu Jagoda, political convenor of Front Line Socialist Party:
“At a time when a war between India and Pakistan is imminent, the fact that Sri Lanka signed a war pact with India puts Sri Lanka in a terrible position. This government has not even let the public about these treaties that they have signed.”
4. Wide of marching in the parade
5. SOUNDBITE (Sinhala) Duminda Nagamuwa, Secretary of the Workers’ Struggle Centre:
“The current government is operating strictly according to the directives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF is launching a severe attack on the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) by pushing for the restructuring of domestic debt. As of now, workers in the private sector are facing the serious risk of losing 49% of their EPF savings.
6. Wide of people marching in the parade
7. SOUNDBITE (Sinhala) Niroshaa Gurugee, political activist:
“We women, as labourers, contribute greatly to society. However, even if we do contribute so much, we are not given any relief from this government or the previous one. Therefore, we believe today, the 139th Labour Day, we have the right to win and we will not stop until we are given our rights."
8. People marching in the parade
9. SOUNDBITE (Sinhala) Priyanthi Piyathissa, women’s rights activist:
“Problems have been there all our lives, we didn’t have any freedom. We believed that by electing this government we would get our freedoms and rights but we haven’t received them yet. We haven’t gotten them today and we don’t trust that we will get them tomorrow. Therefore, I believe that Labour Day stands for our rights. We who have earned everything through our blood, sweat, and tears, will receive our rights and freedoms."
10. Various of people marching in the parade
11. Wide of rally
12. Close-up of the Frontline Socialist Party backdrop
STORYLINE:
Socialist party supporters in Sri Lanka held a Workers’ Day parade on Thursday alleging that deals with the International Monetary Fund and India threatened the country’s sovereignty and security.
The Frontline Socialist Party, a breakaway faction of the current ruling alliance’s main constituent said shouted slogans and carried the images of key socialist icons such as Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and Vladimir Lenin.
"The current government is operating strictly according to the directives of the International Monetary Fund," said Duminda Nagamuwa, the secretary of the Workers’ Struggle Centre.
Sri Lanka is in the middle of an IMF bailout deal in an effort to salvage the country from an economic crisis.
Sri Lanka recently signed a deal with India covering energy and security matters. Opposition parties accuse the government of keeping the details of the security pact secret.
Pubudhu Jagoda, political convenor of Front Line Socialist Party, also criticized the government’s recent signing of energy and defense agreements, which are seen as efforts to consolidate New Delhi’s influence in the debt-stricken island nation.
"(It) puts Sri Lanka in a terrible position," he said.
Women’s rights were also at the forefront of the march.
AP video shot by: Jayampathi Palipane
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