Recovering from COVID-19 pandemic: What to expect

A research on the people’s mindset and the expectations for economic recovery in the aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic was conducted island-wide up to the week ending 15 May. 

The survey was conducted in the online interview format and included 750 responses covering all nine provinces and the sample was designed to represent all socio-economic classes. The survey was conducted by ProSoft Operations Solutions Ltd. on behalf of the writer. 

The information areas that the survey covered can be mainly clubbed into three main areas: the impact on personal life and issues on economical and political aspects. We see that the findings of this study will give very valuable insights for decision makers in the Government and businesses to understand and prepare for the next immediate stages of this crisis.  

Political factors

It is indeed unfortunate that while the people of the country are living with the fear of getting sick by a viral pandemic (which is still not completely over) and now finally trying to recover from the economic downfall and loss of livelihood that they had to face due to the over 60 days long curfew still imposed in the country, the rulers of the country are now talking about an election.

We tried to gauge the opinion of the people with regard to this new development in the country.

Only 6% of the people believe unconditionally that the election should be held in June, 2020 followed by a 22% says it’s ok to hold the election in June if the President cannot run the country without the parliament. However, a significant 58% believe that the election should be postponed by a few months and/or until the COVID-19 crisis is over. An interesting finding is that 14% say that we do not need the Parliament at all! 

With respect to this question, if you combine the 33% who say that there is no need to recall the old parliament that has been dissolved in March and the 45% who say that the current system should continue (which is the Executive President running the Government with a transitional cabinet of ministers), it is clear the majority of 78% believe that there is no need for the old Parliament be recalled. 

Both the above responses clearly show that the people are not interested in politics at this time and it is up to the leaders to figure out a way to govern the country without disrupting the lives of the people who are already battered by the pandemic’s economic impact. 

This opinion and mood of the people could also be a result of the fact that there is a very high satisfaction level with the way the current government led by the President (88% satisfaction) and supported by the frontline workers of the health sector (96% satisfaction) and the military (97% satisfaction) is handling the situation.

(The writer is Chairperson of Mother Sri Lanka Trust, former MD – Nielsen Lanka.)