President Wickremesinghe remains less unpopular than predecessor

• All major political party leaders rated unfavourable by the public

The latest Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS) polling shows that the net favourability ratings of all major party leaders remained negative through December 2022. 

The public’s negative perception of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has changed little since his resignation, with his net favourability rating deeply negative and stuck at -72 as the year ended.

UNP leader and President Ranil Wickremasinghe remains much less unpopular than his predecessor. But the boost in his favourability ratings after he took over the Presidency has dissipated, with his favourability rating falling back in November and December to end the year at -48.

The ratings of both SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa and NPP/JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake continue to recover from the lows they and other politicians reached in mid-2022. Their net favourability is now substantially better than the President’s.

 But their ratings of -38 and -31 respectively in December, means that for every Sri Lankan who has a favourable view of them, there are another two who have a negative view.

IHP is an independent, non-partisan research centre based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The SLOTS lead investigator is Dr. Ravi Rannan-Eliya of IHP, who has trained in public opinion polling at Harvard University and has conducted numerous surveys over three decades.