Sri Lanka has been experiencing the worst economic crisis in 70 years. This is in addition to the political and social instabilities in the country, where the citizens of Sri Lanka took things into their own hands and took the streets to express their discontent with the country’s leaders and politics. The result was that the former President and Prime Minister, Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Mahinda Rajapaksa, respectively, resigned.

As the presidency role was vacant with the term only ending in 2024, the Members of the Parliament elected Ranil Wickremesinghe as the President of Sri Lanka to complete the term. This has resulted in mixed opinions, thus, Real Research launched a survey on the newly-elected Sri Lankan President. Here are the survey findings.

Highlights:

  • 44.85 are extremely satisfied with the Sri Lankan citizens protesting, resulting in the country’s leaders resigning
  • 39.75% feel the best option was to let former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa continue his presidency
  • 38.22% feel President Ranil Wickremesinghe will most definitely not be able to save Sri Lanka from the current crisis

The Sri Lankan Crisis– Are People Aware?

The survey on the Newly-Elected Sri Lankan President asks if respondents are aware of the economic, political, and social crisis in Sri Lanka. 65.65% say they are well aware, leaving 18.09% who have heard about it but do not know the details. 16.26% however, are not aware.

awareness-of-the-Sri-Lankan-crisis
Fig 1: Respondents on awareness of the Sri Lankan crisis

Accordingly, the survey asks if respondents are still following the news about Sri Lanka’s current crisis. 54.44% still watch it on the news, whereas, 17.06% read about it on social media. 17.06% read the news, while 15.68% are not following the news.

People of Sri Lanka Taking Things Into Their Own Hands

As situations in Sri Lanka got progressively worse, the citizens protested for weeks resulting in the resignations of the former Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapakse, Gotabaya Rajapakse, the former President, and Basil Rajapakse, the former Finance Minister.

Respondents-on-citizens-taking-things-into-their-own-hands
Fig 2: Respondents on citizens taking things into their own hands

The survey on the newly-elected Sri Lankan President asks if respondents are satisfied with the turn of events. 44.8% are extremely satisfied, 15.72% are satisfied, and 23.86% remain neutral. However, 8.05% are unsatisfied, leaving 7.56% extremely unsatisfied.

With Ranil Wickremesinghe now elected as the new President of Sri Lanka, the survey accordingly asks if respondents are satisfied with the decision. Up to 37.8% voted ‘extremely satisfied’, whereas, 16.84% were satisfied. Whereas, 29.34% remain neutral, however, 7.63% are extremely unsatisfied, and 8.39% are unsatisfied.

The Best Way To Elect a President as Far as Sri Lanka Is Concerned

The survey on newly-elected Sri Lankan President asks respondents what the best way is to elect a president to continue a full term. All 39.75% preferred to let former president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa continue full term. Whereas, 23.01% suggest holding elections and Sri Lankan citizens choose their leader.

Respondents-on-electing-a-president-to-continue-a-full-term
Fig 3: Respondents on electing a president to continue a full term

Moreover, 15.54% also suggest letting other members of the Rajapaksa family contest for the presidency. Whereas, a further 10.66% suggest having the Members of the Parliament (MPs) vote and decide. Lastly, 10.08% suggest letting an existing candidate contest for the presidency.

To conclude, the survey asks respondents if it is likely that current President Ranil Wickremesinghe will be able to save Sri Lanka from its crisis. In response, 38.22% say ‘no, most definitely not,’ whereas, 40.15% remain neutral. However, 21.62% feel Ranil will be able to save the crisis in Sri Lanka.

Methodology

 
Survey TitleSurvey on the Newly-Elected Sri Lankan President, Opposed by Many
DurationJuly 25 – August 01, 2022
Number of Participants30,000
DemographicsMales and females, aged 21 to 99
Participating Countries Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Bolivia,… Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, China (Hong Kong) China (Macao), China (Taiwan), Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Greanada, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Maldives, Maluritania, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar [Burma], Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zimbabwe.