New regime clean on abuse of power, but other concerns remain
Most Sri Lankans have given the thumbs-up to the new transitional Government agreeing that there has been little of no abuse of power during its 2- month existence, according to a joint opinion poll by the Business Times (BT) and the Research and Consultncy Bureau (RCB) conducted this week.
The poll on ‘The progress of the new Government” also revealed that most people were in favour of parliamentary polls being held as scheduled in or around June, instead of a postponement as promoted in some political quarters.
Some respondents feared that if electoral and constitution reforms are not implemented before the next poll, some of the corrupt elements would re-contest the election which should be avoided at all costs.
Respondents also expressed unhappiness that these corrupt individuals in the former regime were still at large. “Until this is resolved, people are still afraid to speak. In such a situation full freedom is still elusive,” said one respondent.
Asked whether abuse of power has been eradicated or minimized, a resounding 85 per cent in the RCB’s street survey said ‘Yes” while the ‘Yes” vote in the BT’s email poll was 61.7 per cent. This is higher than the response to the same question in the earlier poll on February 8 where the ‘Yes’ tally was 76 per cent (RCB) and 58 per cent (BT).
However results to the question whether corruption by the previous regime is being effectively tackled reflected a different picture. While the February 8 poll showed a less than 50 per cent confidence by the people (RCB – 49 per cent and BT – 46 per cent) that this issue had been resolved, this week’s poll showed a surge in the RCB respondents where 79 per cent felt there had been progress. On the contrary, 67 per cent of BT respondents voted “No”, unconvinced that state efforts were showing results.
This is the second BT-RCB survey on the progress of the Sirisena-Wickremasinghe administration as per the 100 day plan, with another one is due next month ahead of the proposed dissolution of parliament on April 23.
The BT poll on email received 300 responses while the RCB street poll was conducted amongst little over 300 people in and around Colombo.
The latest survey included two new questions (not asked earlier) dealing with the poll and the 100 day programme. Asked whether the authorities should postpone parliamentary polls, both the BT and RCB polls showed that an equal number of respondents – 53 per cent – opposed a postponement.
On the question of whether 100 days is enough to resolve all the issues confronting the Government, 70.5 per cent of BT respondents said more time was required while RCB respondents had a mixed response; 47 per cent saying 100 days was enough and 45 per cent saying ‘No’.
On the question as to whether the new administration was speedy on decision-making, 65 per cent of RCB respondents gave a positive response while 73 per cent of BT respondents were unusually ‘Undecided’.
Responses were mixed to the question as to whether the cost of living has been reduced. 46 per cent of RCB respondents (BT- 47 per cent) agreed with 46 per cent (RCB) and 41 per cent (BT) said ‘No’.