The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) is holding a public meeting on December 12 in Colombo to launch its campaign for the January 26 presidential elections. Its candidate will be Wije Dias, SEP General Secretary and a member of the WSWS International Editorial Board.

President Mahinda Rajapakse called this election early in a desperate attempt to capitalise on the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The opposition parties are backing General Sarath Fonseka, who was until last month Chief of Defence Staff and responsible, along with Rajapakse, for the communal war and its associated crimes.

Whichever candidate wins, the next government will seek to rapidly impose the burdens of the island’s worsening economic crisis onto working people. Having ruthlessly prosecuted the war against the Tamil minority, Rajapakse and Fonseka are both prepared to use police-state measures to suppress any opposition to the further onslaught on jobs and living standards.

The SEP is the only party campaigning to mobilise the working class independently in the fight for a workers’ and farmers’ government to implement socialist policies. Our campaign is an integral part of the struggle for socialism throughout South Asia and internationally. We urge workers, youths, intellectuals and WSWS readers to attend our meeting.

Venue: Narayanagura Hall (near Armor Street), Colombo 12.

Time: Saturday December 12, 3.00 p.m.