Around 60 per cent of the public do not believe that the ‘Aragalaya’ movement led to the wishes and aspirations of the people
being fulfilled, according to results of a survey by Verité Research.
The survey noted that 51% of the respondents said that corrupt and bad governance needs to be fixed in order to rebuild Sri Lanka, one year since Aragalaya protestors vacated Galle Face Green on 10 August 2022.
The Aragalaya protest movement had a significant presence in Galle Face from 9 April 2022 till 10 August 2022.
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?’
1. In order to rebuild the country, it is necessary to give priority to stability over democratic space
2. In order to rebuild the country, it is necessary to fix corrupt and bad governance
3. 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 poll is based on an island wide nationally representative sample of responses from 1,008 Sri Lankan adults, conducted in June 2023.
