Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake sought falsely to showcase his government as a champion of “national unity without racism” and “prosperity” during his recent visit to the war-ravaged northern district of Jaffna. The carefully organised visit centred on the inauguration of a national housing program and an anti-drug campaign. This outcome reflected not a political endorsement of the JVP/NPP, but the collapse of traditional nationalist parties that have dominated Tamil politics for decades. A mass uprising of working people throughout the island forced President Gotabhaya Rajapakse to flee the country and resign. The Tamil nationalist parties, which do not represent the interests of the vast majority of Tamil working people, will respond with divisive Tamil nationalism to defend the interests of the venal Tamil elites.