A poor report card

According to a poll carried out by Verité Research, a think tank focused on economic policy making, the approval rating of the Government has fallen from 21% in June 2023 to 9% in October 2023. The survey showed that satisfaction with the state of the nation also dropped by half to 6%, from 12% in June 2023. 

The poll recorded that the economic confidence has further deteriorated. According to the pollsters, the ‘Mood of the Nation’ poll is conducted three times a year and is based on an island-wide, nationally representative sample of responses.

While polls conducted by private entities are not the best reflection of the will of a people, it does come in the backdrop of the current Government postponing local government elections indefinitely and denying the electorate to express its will in a free and fair manner as should be done in a functioning democracy. Sri Lankans have not used their franchise since October 2020 and have been denied the opportunity to do so as well. In such a context anecdotal evidence such as this poll are the actual indicators of the performance of the Government and the public sentiment towards it.

Such a poor assessment of the Government’s performance doesn’t bode well for President Ranil Wickremesinghe who has no popular mandate to govern. His associates have been working tirelessly to project him as yet another saviour who emerged at the nick of time to save Sri Lanka from economic ruin in mid-2022. While there has been a degree of stability from the lowest pits to which the economy fell during 2022, the actions of the Government have drawn little confidence among the people. 

One would assume that the President and his Government would be exerting their full attention to the economic recovery and the many difficult decisions associated with that process. If this recovery is to stand a chance, then corruption, wastage and the massive size of the State sector are a few matters that need immediate attention. There are many reforms needed to address these issues and far more pressing legislation that need to be brought in to tackle them. Yet in recent months the Government’s focus has been on legislation that curtail the fundamental freedoms of the citizenry, especially their freedom of expression. Be it the anti-terrorism laws or the proposed Online Safety Bill, the motives are sinister and are intended to curtail growing public anger towards the failures of governance.

Despite the passing of the anti-corruption laws, precious little has been done to address this core reason for Sri Lanka’s economic debacle. It is unfathomable that not only are there ministers within cabinet who have been found guilty by the High Court of soliciting bribes, but the minister in charge of the police himself is now appearing in the infamous Pandora Papers raising reasonable questions on money laundering and tax evasion.

Public sentiment towards its performance shows the disdain with which the electorate holds the current ruling regime. It has remained an extension of the failed administration that was booted out last year through a popular uprising. By denying the people their right to the franchise and attempting to stifle their freedom of expression through draconian laws, the Government cannot keep public sentiment in check. It is time for the actual test of the peoples’ will and the holding of the local government elections.