19 April 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka: According to the latest
‘Democracy in Post War Sri Lanka’ survey conducted by Social Indicator,
the survey research unit of the Centre for Policy Alternatives, Sri
Lankans have a low level of confidence in the Government’s commitment
towards eradicating corruption in the country. While 40.8% are of the
opinion that the Government is not committed towards eradicating
corruption in the country, 34.5% say that the Government is committed.
The decrease in the level of confidence is seen when compared to October
2015 data, where 49.6% of Sri Lankans were of the opinion that the
Government is committed towards eradicating corruption in the country.
On the issue of cost of living, almost 30% of Sri Lankans indicate
that they are satisfied with the Government’s performance in addressing
the cost of living in the country, while 51.2% indicate that they are
dissatisfied.
While 48.8% of Sri Lankans agree that the National Anthem should be
sung in both Sinhala and Tamil languages, 41.3% of Sri Lankans disagree.
42.2% of Sri Lankans are of the opinion that there should be a
mechanism to look into what happened during the final stages of the war,
while 44.2% are of the opinion that there shouldn’t be such a
mechanism. Among those who indicate that there should be a credible
mechanism, 47.3% are of the opinion that it should be an exclusively
domestic one, whilst only 9.2% of Sri Lankans are of the opinion that it
should be an exclusively international one.
While 72.6% of Sri Lankans agree that female representation in
Parliament, Provincial Councils, and Local Government Authorities is
insufficient, 10.1% disagree with the same. 52% of Sri Lankans are of
the opinion that men are both qualified and capable of winning an
election in comparison to women, while 23.7% disagree with the same.
Furthermore, 51.4% of Sri Lankans are also of the opinion that once
elected, women have less decision making power than their male
counterparts.
Nearly 50% of Sri Lankans state that the Constitution should
determine the number of Ministers and that there should be no room to
increase the number of Ministers in Parliament.
A majority (74.4%) of Sri Lankans agree that the Clergy (religious
priests/ monks) if found guilty of unethical/ illegal behaviour or
misconduct, must be taken into custody and dealt with under the rule of
law.
‘Democracy in post-war Sri Lanka’ sought to record public
perspectives on democracy in Sri Lanka today and the findings are
presented under four key sections – Economy and Development, Trust in
Institutions, Perceptions on politics and Transitional justice. The
first wave was conducted in 2011, the second wave in 2013, the third in
2014, the fourth in March 2015 and the fifth in October 2015.
Conducted in the 25 districts of the country, this survey captured the opinion of 2102 Sri Lankans from the four main ethnic groups. The selection of respondents was random across the country except in a few areas in the Northern Province where access was difficult. Fieldwork was conducted from February 18th to March 03rd 2016.
Conducted in the 25 districts of the country, this survey captured the opinion of 2102 Sri Lankans from the four main ethnic groups. The selection of respondents was random across the country except in a few areas in the Northern Province where access was difficult. Fieldwork was conducted from February 18th to March 03rd 2016.
Social Indicator (SI) is the survey research unit of the Centre for
Policy Alternatives (CPA) and was established in September 1999, filling
a longstanding vacuum for a permanent, professional and independent
polling facility in Sri Lanka on social and political issues. Driven by
the strong belief that polling is an instrument that empowers democracy,
SI has been conducting polls on a large range of socio-economic and
political issues since its inception. (CPA)
Please contact Iromi Perera at iromi@cpasocialindicator.org for further information.
Please contact Iromi Perera at iromi@cpasocialindicator.org for further information.
Download the report in full here.