Approximately 60% of the public do not believe that the ‘Aragalaya’ movement led to the wishes and aspirations of the people being fulfilled, a new survey by Sri Lankan think-tank, Verité Research has found.
As per the survey, 51% of the respondents said that corruption and bad governance needs to be fixed in order to rebuild Sri Lanka.
The Aragalaya protest movement had a significant presence in Galle Face from 9 April 2022 till 10 August 2022. Today marks one year since Aragalaya protestors vacated the Galle Face Green.
Wishes and aspirations fulfilled?
To the question ‘Do you think the Aragalaya led to the wishes and aspirations of the people being fulfilled?’, 60% responded with ‘mostly no’, 11% with ‘mostly yes’, while 29% said they have ‘no opinion’.
The appointment of a new prime minister and a cabinet of ministers, and the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa were some of the important events which took place during this period.
Governance, stability or economic system?
The respondents were also asked, ‘Out of the following statements, which one would you endorse the most?’
- In order to rebuild the country, it is necessary to give priority to stability over democratic space
- In order to rebuild the country, it is necessary to fix corrupt and bad governance
- In order to rebuild the country, it is necessary to change the economic system
A majority of the respondents – 51% – believe that it is necessary to fix corrupt and bad governance.
34% desire a change in the economic system and 15% consider it necessary to give priority to stability over democratic space.
Implementation of the survey
The poll is conducted as a part of the syndicated survey instrument by Verité Research and the polling partner was Vanguard Survey (Pvt) Ltd. The syndicated survey instrument by Verité Research also provides other organisations with the opportunity to survey the sentiments of the people of Sri Lanka.
The sample and methodology are designed to limit the maximum error margin to under ±3% at a 95% confidence interval. The poll is based on an islandwide nationally representative sample of responses from 1,008 Sri Lankan adults, conducted in June 2023.
