Since the country's independence, the two main parties, the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP, which broke away from the UNP in 1951), governed the country for eight years each, and the country's economic outlook worsened. According to the JVP's founders, neither party had been able to implement even a single measure to resolve the crisis. The JVP considered the entry of three left parties into the United Front (UF) of Sri Lanka in 1964 as a conscious betrayal of the aspirations of the people and the working class. Inflation, unemployment, and food prices increased despite government efforts to prevent it.
