A recent survey has revealed that an overwhelming majority of about 90% of Sri Lanka are interested in voting in the upcoming presidential election and that all ethnic communities have given priority to the ‘economy’ factor.
This has been revealed in the survey conducted by the Law and Social Trust on ‘2024 Presidential Election: People’s Aspirations’.
2,868 people belonging to all the four ethnic groups of Sinhala, Muslim, Sri Lankan Tamil and Malayaga (plantation) Tamil were selected covering all the districts and conducted this survey by contacting them face to face.
Releasing the survey report yesterday (10) in Colombo, the researchers emphasized that this year’s presidential election, which is the first election to be held after the 2022 struggle of the people, has become more competitive than ever before.
However, due to the announcement by the Election Commission that it cannot publish the findings of the people’s preference for each candidate, due to the violation of some of the laws and regulations related to the country’s elections have been removed from this report.
Everyone’s economy is not the same
In this survey, majorities in all 4 major ethnic communities said that a candidate’s view of the economy was the most decisive factor in casting their vote in the 2024 presidential election.
However, there are clear differences between rural, urban and plantation communities in the way they explain each other’s economy. Economic aspirations expressed by various communities include, tax burden, commodity price issues, reduction in the price of chemical fertilisers, reduction of taxes on agricultural machinery, compensation for crop damage, solutions to unemployment of university graduates, reduction in the price of food items, provision of subsidies, provision of lunches and uniforms to school children, increasing support for the elderly, increasing the wages of the people working in the plantations, solving the problem of landlessness of the Malayaga community, solving the problems related to land grabbing during the post-war period and reducing the number of women leaving the country.
‘Rule of Law’ sought by Muslims
The other thing revealed in the survey is that in this presidential election, the other thing that people are interested in after the economy is the rule of law.
What is special is that the respondents who were most interested in the rule of law were the Muslim community. For them the rule of law meant that the law protected them against the discrimination and injustice they had experienced in the past (especially after the Easter Sunday attacks).
They believe that there was discrimination in the house searches and arrests made under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Most respondents interpreted anti-corruption under the broader category of law and order. It has been stated that there is no hope of taking legal action against the people who commit fraud and corruption, especially in the urban community due to the lack of necessary legal reforms.
Tamil people’s need is a ‘National Question’
The third most important factor in voting is the national question. Among the four main ethnic communities, the Sri Lankan Tamil community had the highest percentage of those who considered the national question a priority. According to them, the injustices and sufferings that happened during the land robbery and the war must be relevant in solving the national problem.
In the 1990s, a significant number of displaced Muslims from the north declared that any solution to the national question must have the resolution of the land issue at its foundation. The victims of the Easter Sunday attack (the Sinhalese) are of the opinion that in the face of future injustices and victims like the Easter Sunday attack, any solution to the national question should include a social security mechanism. It is special that the priority given to the national issue is lower than the economic factor in general among all the population groups.
The suitable president is found by looking at the media
According to the findings of the survey, it was revealed that the majority of Sri Lankans use ‘media’ including electronic and social media as a source to choose who is suitable for them, said Mr. Vidura Munasinghe, Senior Researcher of the Law and Social Trust.
The inaugural vote that has been discussed on the election platform for a long time has no effect
The survey report shows that this is the first presidential election in decades where the national issue and nationalism have been given low priority in election campaigns. However, although ethnic tensions may not emerge as dominant factors, we cannot conclude that the importance of the national question has faded in our society. For example, statements such as “no matter what happens, no one can divide the country” were frequently expressed by the Sinhala respondents.
Though submerged in the economy, ethnic grievances and nationalism have not faded and the need to rebuild the nation remains a priority. At the same time, people aspire to establish the rule of law. In this context, whatever candidate wins the 2024 presidential election, the people’s aspirations are very high.
Sri Lankan politics turned upside down by the collapse of Pohottuwa
Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Colombo said:
“When the last presidential polls were approaching, it was possible to know in advance who would win. But even predicting the results of the presidential election this year has become difficult. There has been a structural change in the attraction of voters this time. This is evident from the survey reports released today. The collapse of the political camp led by Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa, which has been the main vote attraction in the Sinhala Buddhist community for the past 20 years, and later became the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, after the recent economic crisis and the popular uprising of people’s struggle has become a fundamental factor here.
However, according to the data of this survey report, if the person who wins and becomes the President violates the trust of the people, it also appears that the people are not prepared to send him home with a struggle as happened in the previous case.
The ‘2024 Presidential Election: People’s Aspirations’ survey report is given below. The Law and Social Trust also said that the complete report with the removed sections will be available on its official website www.lst.lk after the presidential election as per the notification of the Election Commission.
en.newswave.lk-englishPress Release – Announcement:
