Back Lanka Sama Samaja Party Catalan Lanka Sama Samaja Party French Partito dell'Eguaglianza Sociale Singalese Italian スリランカ社会主義平等党 Japanese Lanka Sama Samaja Party NB Ланка Сама Самаджа Парти Russian ලංකා සමසමාජ පක්ෂය Singhalese Lanka Sama Samaja Party SIMPLE Lanka Sama Samaja Party Swedish லங்கா சமசமாஜக் கட்சி Tamil
Lanka Sama Samaja Party ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය லங்கா சமசமாஜக் கட்சி Lanka Equal Society Party | |
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| Abbreviation | LSSP |
| Secretary-General | Leslie Goonewardene (first; 1945–1977) |
| Leader | N.M. Perera (first; 1947–1959) Tissa Vitharana (current) |
| Founders | Leslie Goonewardene N.M. Perera Colvin R. de Silva Philip Gunawardena Robert Gunawardena |
| Founded | 18 December 1935 |
| Headquarters | 457 Union Place, Colombo 02 |
| Newspaper | Samasamajaya Janadina daily Janasathiya |
| Youth wing | Congress of Samasamaja Youth Leagues |
| Ideology | Communism Trotskyism |
| Political position | Far-left |
| National affiliation | ULS PA Formerly: FPA SLPFA UPFA United Front |
| International affiliation | Fourth International |
| Parliament of Sri Lanka | 0 / 225
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| Election symbol | |
Key | |
| Website | |
| lssplk.com | |
The Lanka Sama Samaja Party, often abbreviated as LSSP (literally: Lanka Equal Society Party, Sinhala: ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය, Tamil: லங்கா சமசமாஜக் கட்சி), is a major Trotskyist political party in Sri Lanka. It was the first political party in Sri Lanka (then British Ceylon), having been founded in 1935 by Leslie Goonewardene, N. M. Perera, Colvin R. de Silva, Philip Gunawardena and Robert Gunawardena. The party is currently led by Tissa Vitharana. The party was founded with Leninist 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 movement and later Quit India Movement through the Bolshevik–Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and Burma (BLPI). Its efforts contributed to India and Sri Lanka's independence from the British Empire in 1947 and 1948, respectively.
In the late early 1950s, the LSSP spearheaded the 1953 Hartal strike, caused by vast food price inflation under the United National Party (UNP) government. Maintaining the price of rice at 25 cents had been an electoral promise by the UNP in the 1952 elections, and the introduction of the new rate of 70 cents elicited massive public anger.
From the late 1940s to 1960s, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party served as the main opposition party of Sri Lanka, whilst being recognised as the Sri Lankan wing of the Fourth International, a Trotskyist political international. During this period, the party was able to use its considerable political influence to reform the former British colony of Ceylon into a socialist republic by nationalising organisations in the banking, education, industry, media and trade sectors. In 1964, the party joined the United Front along side the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and formed a socialist SLFP-led government, leading to its expulsion from the Fourth International. Through their election landslide in 1964, the United Front brought the world's first non-hereditary female head of government in modern history, Sirimavo Bandaranaike to power as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. The party peaked in political strength in the 1970s, when it was again leading a coalition government with several of its leaders in key cabinet roles.
In recent years, the party has played a supporting role in several coalition governments led by the SLFP, such as from 1994–2001, 2004–2015, and 2020–2022. The party has had no parliamentary representation since 2024.
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