October 26, Colombo (LNW): According to the Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS) for September 2024, compiled by the Institute for Health Policy (IHP), perceptions of the country’s direction improved significantly following the presidential election.
Prior to the election, a net 43% of the public felt the country was on the wrong track. However, this sentiment flipped after the election, with a net 5% believing the country was moving in the right direction—the highest level since SLOTS began in April 2022.
This dramatic turnaround in opinion occurred immediately after the election on 21 September. SLOTS did not conduct interviews during 22-23 September, but the change in sentiment was clear and detectable immediately from 24 September when the survey resumed.
Throughout September, an average of 21% of adults viewed the country positively, compared to 54% who did not. Before the elections on September 21, only 16% thought things were going well, a figure that rose to 41% post-election. Conversely, the percentage believing the country was headed in the wrong direction fell from 59% to 36%.
The shift in opinion was immediate and broad, with notable increases among the poorest adults (+77%), younger adults (18-29 years +74%, 30-44 years +77%), and various ethnic groups, including Sinhala (+75%) and Muslim (+74%). The only demographic that did not show positive sentiment was the wealthiest third, where 6% still felt the country was headed in the wrong direction.
This dramatic change moved Sri Lankans from one of the most pessimistic nations to one of the most optimistic following the elections.
Before September 2024, over 90% of Sri Lankans believed the country was on the wrong path. In a global IPSOS poll, an average of 61% across 29 countries felt similarly.
Post-election, the percentage of Sri Lankans who thought the country was on the wrong track plummeted to 32%, positioning Sri Lanka among the top three countries with a positive outlook.
The big change in views in Sri Lanka meant that Sri Lankans went from being amongst the pessimistic nations when thinking about the direction of the country to being the amongst the most positive after the elections.
. In a global IPSOS poll of 29 countries, an average of 61% of adults thought their country was heading in the wrong direction, according to September estimates.
By comparison, 79% of Sri Lankans held this view before the election (during 1-20 Sep), a figure only better than South Korea and Japan, but far behind other South Asian countries tracked. After the election, this percentage dropped to 32% (68% in the right direction) moving Sri Lanka into the top three countries with positive outlooks
