Top line survey results: Democracy in post-war Sri Lanka

8/14/2019 Top line survey results: Democracy in post-war Sri Lanka

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Top Line ReportNovember 2013

Social Indicator - Centre for Policy Alternatives

SURVEY ON DEMOCRACYIN POST-WAR SRI LANKA


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The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) is an independent, non-partisan organisation that focuses primarily onissues of governance and conict resolution. Formed in 1996 in the rm belief that the vital contribution of civil

society to the public policy debate is in need of strengthening, CPA is committed to programmes of research

and advocacy through which public policy is critiqued, alternatives identied and disseminated.

Address: 24/2 28 th Lane, off Flower RoadColombo 7, Sri Lanka

Telephone: +94 (11four) 2565304/5/6

Fax: +94 (11) 4714460

Web www.cpalanka.org

Email [email protected]

Social Indicator (SI) is the survey research unit of the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) and was established inSeptember 1999, lling a longstanding vacuum for a permanent, professional and independent polling facility inSri Lanka on social and political issues. Driven by the strong belief that polling is an instrument that empowersdemocracy, SI has been conducting polls on a large range of socio "economic and political issues since itsinception.

Address: 105, Fifth Lane, Colombo 03

Telephone: +94(11)2370472/4/6 Fax: +94(11) 2370475

Web: http://cpalanka.org/survey-research/ Email: [email protected]
mailto:[email protected]://www.cpalanka.org/


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Democracy in Post War Sri Lanka - 2013 | Top Line Report

The ndings of this survey has been categorised into seven key sections - Economy andDevelopment, Post War Sri Lanka, The Government, Media, Tolerance, Identity, and Role ofReligion and Ethnicity in Politics.

On the economy, the, the cost of living is what is mainly on peoples minds. A reduction in thecost of living is what most Sri Lankans would like to see as a result of the currentdevelopment process. They also think that it is crucial area the Government must payattention to. Almost half of those polled claimed that the nancial situation in their householdhas got worse in the last two years and around 30.6% say that they have cut back on the

quality of food they purchase. Twenty percent (20%) say that they have not taken medicine orundergone medical treatment at a time it was needed due to nancial strain.

The opinion of around 82% of those polled is that the security situation in the country hasimproved in the last two years. On the topic of reconciliation however, the difference inopinion between the Sinhala and Tamil communities remains- 35.5% of the Sinhalese believethat the Government has done a lot to address the root causes of the conict while 26.5% ofthe Tamil community say that the Government has done nothing. At the same time, 61.1% ofSri Lankans also state that the Government should give priority to allocating resources torebuilding the conict affected areas, even if it means that less money is spent on the rest of

the country.

Public trust in key institutions and organisations reveals that 40.3% place a great deal of trustin the Army while political parties are the least trusted. Around 20% also stated that they haveno trust in the Police or the Parliament. These two institutions are believed to be the mostcorrupt. The assessment of corruption amongst Members of Parliament has risen since2011.

Of the many foreign actors that have played and continue to play a signicant role in post warSri Lanka, China is thought to have Sri Lankas best interest at heart (57%) while around 20%

say that India and USA do not have Sri Lankas best interest at heart.

Whilst most Sri Lankans get their political news and information from television channels,privately owned television channels are trusted most with 28% stating that they trust them toa great extent and 55.6% to some extent. On media reporting, 73% believe that the newsmedia should constantly investigate and report on issues like corruption while 41.5% say thatmedia should have a right to publish content without Government control.

The majority of Sri Lankans (91.4%) say that their religion can be practiced without anyrestrictions - however, 21% of the Muslim community says that they can practice their religionbut with some restriction while almost 10% say that they have no freedom.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY


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Tolerance is a topic debated frequently in 2013, in the light of the attacks and hate speechdirected at the Muslim community. There are varying degrees of tolerance evident in thendings - almost 60% are agreeable to schools that are multi ethnic while 41% are notagreeable to a close family member marrying someone from a different ethnicity. Thirty- sixpercent (36%) also are not agreeable to living in a residential neighbourhood where more thanhalf the neighbours are from a different ethnic group.

90% of those polled are proud to be Sri Lankan and on the question of who is a true SriLankan, the top three descriptions given were someone who was born in Sri Lanka, someonewho loves Sri Lanka and someone who lives in Sri Lanka. The differences in opinion acrossthe four main ethnic communities was interesting - while the top description from theSinhalese community is someone who was born in Sri Lanka, for the Tamil community it issomeone who speaks both Sinhalese and Tamil. Furthermore, while 85.2% of Sinhalese saythat it is very important for someone to be able to speak Sinhalese to be considered a true SriLanka, only 32.2% say the same of someone who is able to speak Tamil.

The majority of Sri Lankans (70%) believe that the ethnicity or religion of public ofcials shouldhave no relevance to their powers and duties while 42.3% admit that it is important thatpublic ofcials represent their ethnicity or religion. Forty-two percent (42%) of those polled saythat it is problematic for a country like Sri Lanka to have ethnicity or religion based politicalparties while the same percentage also admit that it is unavoidable.

The role of Buddhism in Sri Lankan politics is a topic that elicits clear divisions of opinionacross the four communities - 44.5% of Sinhalese say that it is in the right amount whilemajority of the Tamil (78.5%), Up Country Tamil (74.7%) and Muslim (70.4%) respondents say

that Buddhism plays too much of a role in Sri Lankan politics.

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Democracy in post war Sri Lanka was rst conducted in 2011 and the 2013 survey is thesecond wave in what we hope will be an annual survey capturing how Sri Lankans perceiveand engage in democracy after the war. Much has taken place since the survey was rstconducted and in 2013 alone some key events include the impeachment of the Chief Justice,increase in attacks on places of worship, increase in intolerance and hate speech directed atthe Muslim community and the continuing militarisation in the country.

The objective of this survey is to record public perspectives on democracy in post war SriLanka - what it means to people, how they participate in it, their perceptions of the

Government and key public institutions. In the 2013 survey, new sections were added to thequestionnaire to capture public opinion on national identity, tolerance, role of religion andethnicity in politics.

As in 2011, a rigorous methodology was utilised to design and conduct this survey in the 25districts of the country. Quality control at different stages of eldwork as well as post eldworkensured that data collection was accurate and collected without bias.

The previous survey results were used by Members of Parliament, academics, policy makersand civil society in discussions related to governance, reconciliation, development and

accountability. The ndings from this report and further analysis of the data we hope willcontinue to contribute to the discourse on democracy in post war Sri Lanka.

This study was conducted by Social Indicator, the survey research unit of the Centre forPolicy Alternatives, with the generous assistance of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign

Affairs, Human Security Division. The Principal Researcher was Iromi Perera while eldworkfor the study was managed by M. Krishnamoorthy and Data Processing by ShashikDhanushka.

We would like to thank Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, Sanjana Hattotuwa and Asanga

Welikala for their valuable input during the questionnaire design stage as well as in nalisingthis report. We would also like to thank vikalpa.org for the cover photo.

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INTRODUCTION


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KEY EVENTS BEFORE AND DURING FIELDWORK

Weliweriya drinking water issue - In July 2013, residents of Rathupaswala in the Gampahadistrict claimed that their supply of drinking water had been contaminated by chemicals beingreleased by a factory in the area. The factory was a subsidiary of the Hayleys Group, one ofSri Lankas largest multinational business conglomerates. On July 27th, a group of villagersand a monk from the area began a hunger strike protesting the water crisis and followingassurances by ofcials, the fast was called off on the 29th of July. The factory was closedtemporarily, however the company issued a statement that it was not responsible for thecontaminated ground water . Talks were held on July 29th between Government ofcials, the1

monk and public ofcials to resolve the issue but according to the monk the talks had failedand therefore on August 1st, a protest was launched in Weliweriya in the Gampaha district . 2

Nearly 4000 people from Rathupaswala, Weliweriya and surrounding villagers reportedlygathered for this protest by blocking the Kandy - Colombo road. Police used tear gas, watercannons and rubber bullets to try and disperse the crowd but according to theSuperintendent of Police for Gampaha, as the number of police personnel were not sufcientto control the situation, the Army was called upon . A 400 strong squad of Army personnel3arrived in complete anti-riot gear. When the crowd refused to disperse, and petrol bombs andstones were thrown towards the Army, the Army began assaulting protesters and using liveammunition . Three people were killed and nearly fty injured at this protest two of those4

killed were young students reportedly not directly involved in the protest.

Navi Pillay visit - UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay visited Sri Lanka from August25 - 31 for a fact nding mission . Her visit was not welcome by some pro Government5

groups who called on Pillay to leave the country and stop criticising Sri Lankas human rightsrecord . In her end of mission statement, Pillay thanked the Government for sticking to their6

commitment of allowing her to go anywhere in the country and then delivered a statementwhere she commented on harassment and intimidation by security forces, militarisation in theNorth, attacks on religious minorities and other signicant issues . 7 Elections - Elections were held on September 21st in three Provinces - Northern, NorthWestern and Central. The election in the Northern Province was a signicant one as it washeld after 25 years and saw the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) winning 30 out of 38 seats inthe Council . The United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) retained control of the North8

Western and Central Provincial Councils.

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http://www.ft.lk/2013/08/05/dipped-products-md-denies-responsibility-for-water-contamination-expresses-grave-concerns-over-1

weliweriya-unrest/

http://colombogazette.com/2013/08/01/black-ag-protest-over-water/ 2

http://www.ceylontoday.lk/59-39888-news-detail-the-story-of-the-rathupaswala-incident.html3

http://www.sundaytimes.lk/130804/news/woes-of-weliweriya-water-war-55854.html4

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-238990825

www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2013/08/201382613292148452.html6

un.lk/news/opening-remarks-by-un-high-commissioner-for-human-rights-navi-pillay/ 7

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/22/us-srilanka-election-idUSBRE98K01U201309228


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This island wide opinion poll was conducted in all 25 districts of Sri Lanka. Using a structuredquestionnaire, face to face interviews were conducted with a sample of 2200 respondents,out of which 2045 interviews were considered as complete interviews.

Questionnaire

The questionnaire used in the 2011 Democracy in Post War Sri Lanka survey was revisedafter examining current discussions and debates on democracy and governance along withexisting survey instruments on surveys done on the similar topics. The questionnaire was

nalised together with Senior Researchers of the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA). Thequestionnaire was translated into Sinhala and Tamil and a pilot survey was done to test theinstrument and the translations before eldwork commenced. The pilot survey wasconducted by senior eld researchers.

Sampling and eldwork

In this survey, Social Indicator (SI) used a multi stage stratied random sampling technique. The sample size was determined in order to produce results within a 2% error margin at 95%condence level and to make necessary disaggregation for the analysis intended. A sample

of 2200 respondents spread across all districts using the Population Proportionate Sampling(PPS) method was polled. Ethnic proportions were accounted for. Electorates were chosenas the strata to distribute the sample and polling booths within each electorate were chosenrandomly. Within each polling booth, a maximum of 15 respondents were selected forinterviews using the 2008 Voter Registry of the Department of Elections. Field Researcherswere allocated their research locations and given a list of respondents to locate in that area.In the event they were unable to interview the selected respondent after three attempts, theyreplaced that respondent with another individual from that household.

When allocating samples in the Northern Province, SI adhered to a slightly different method

due to the difculties in terms accessibility and obtaining current data for a sound sampleframe. As with the rest of the country, the sample was stratied across electorates and withineach electorate polling booths were selected randomly. The respondents in the NorthernProvince from each polling booth were selected using the snowball method. Fieldwork for theentire study was conducted from 14 August to mid-September 2013.

Training of Field Researchers

A total of 55 Field Researchers participated in this study. The Field Researchers consisted ofboth male and female enumerators from three ethnic communities Sinhala, Tamil and

Muslim. Prior to starting eldwork, they were given comprehensive training on the study, thesurvey instrument and eld techniques. In order to guarantee the quality of eld research, SIdeployed a group of Supervisors to conduct quality control processes during and after

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METHODOLOGY


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Summary

36.4% of Sri Lankans believe that the current economic situation is somewhat good while30.6% believes it is somewhat bad.

From amongst those who believe the current economic situation is somewhat bad or verybad, majority (70.5%) state that the Government is to blame for it.

37.6% believe that the general economic situation in the country has got a little better inthe last two years, with mainly those in the Sinhalese and Tamil communities holding thisview.

26.8% remain fairly optimistic that the general economic situation in the country will getbetter while 26.3% say that they dont know how the situation will change over the nexttwo years.

The Up Country Tamil and Muslim communities are not optimistic about any positivechange in the economic situation with 41.1% of Up Country Tamil and 33.7% of Muslimrespondents stating that they believe the economic situation will get a lot worse

For more than 50% of Sri Lankans, the nancial situation in their household has worsenedin the last two years, with 31.8% stating that it has got a little worse while 20.9% state thatit has got a lot worse.

Given the opportunity to allocate money from the National Budget to sectors of theirchoice, people would choose Education, Health and Agriculture.

Majority of respondents believe that the three areas the Government should pay urgentattention to are cost of living, reducing poverty and education.

The three main results people would like to see from the current development process arereduction in cost of living, creation of more jobs and better education facilities

61.1% believe that the Government should give priority to allocating resources torebuilding the conict affected areas, even if it means that less money is spent in the rest ofthe country.

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ECONOMY AND DEVELOPMENT


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The Economy

The current economic situation is somewhat good says 36.4% of Sri Lankans while 30.6%believes it is somewhat bad. It is worth highlighting that almost 20% believe that the currenteconomic situation is very bad. From an ethnic perspective, the Sinhala community remainsthe most positive with 40.1% saying that it is somewhat good. In contrast 35% of both UpCountry Tamil and Muslim communities say it is very bad (Refer Graph 1.1) From amongthose who believe the current economic situation is somewhat bad or very bad, majority(70.5%) state that the Government is to blame for it (Refer Graph 1.2) .

Graph 1.1: Thinking about the current economic situation in the country, how would youdescribe it?

Graph 1.2: If you think the current economic situation in the country is somewhat bad or very bad, who do you think is most to blame for it?

8

0

17

33

50

National Sinhala Tamil Up Country Tamil Muslim

Very good Somewhat good Somewhat bad Very bad Dont know

0

30

60

90


The Government The previous Government The international community The citizensOther Don't know

%


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Almost 40% of Sri Lankans believe that the general economic situation in the country has gota little better in the last two years, with mainly those in the Sinhalese and Tamil communitiesholding this view. Majority of the Up Country Tamil and Muslim communities believe contrary,citing that the economic situation has in fact for worse. 40.1% of the Muslim community and32.3% of the Up Country Tamil community believe it has got a lot worse in the last years(Refer Graph 1.3) .

Graph 1.3: How do you think the general economic situation in this country has changed in the last two years?

Graph 1.4: How do you think the general economic situation in this country will change overthe next two years?

9

0

17

33

50


Got a lot better Got a little better Stayed the same Got a little worse Got a lot worseDont know

0

17

33

50


Will get a lot better Will get a little better Stay the same Will get a little worse

Will get a lot worse Dont know

%


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26.8% remain fairly optimistic that the general economic situation in the country will get betterwhile 26.3% say that they dont know how the situation will change over the next two years.

The Up Country Tamil and Muslim communities are not optimistic about any positive changein the economic situation with 41.1% of Up Country Tamil and 33.7% of Muslim respondentsstating that they believe the economic situation will get a lot worse (Refer Graph 1.4).

Comparing the 2013 data to the data collected in 2011, it seems that Sri Lankans overall areless optimistic today about the future of the economy. In 2011 around 60% had a positiveoutlook (21.6% said will get a lot better and 41.5% said will get a little better).

The Household

For more than 50% of Sri Lankans, the nancial situation in their household worsened in thelast two years, with 31.8% stating that it has got a little worse while 20.9% state that it hasgot a lot worse. The most affected appear to be Up Country Tamil and Muslim communitiesas around 45% of Up Country Tamil and 41% of Muslim respondents state that the nancialsituation in their household has got a lot worse when compared to what it was two yearsago.

Graph 1.5: How does the financial situation of your household now compare with what it wastwo years ago?

When feeling a nancial strain it is natural to assume that households will have to makecertain choices with regard to basic needs. Respondents were asked whether in the last yeareither they or a member of their household had to make certain cutbacks with regard to food,medicine or housing. While the number of meals per day is the least affected, the quality offood appears to be the most affected with 30.6% saying that they have cut back on thequality of food purchased in the last year while around 20% stated that they had either nottaken medicine or undergone medical treatment at a time it was needed (Refer Graph 1.6) .

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0

17

33

50


Got a lot better Got a little better Stayed the same Got a little worseGot a lot worse Dont know

%


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Graph 1.6: These days many people have been feeling a financial strain. Over the last 12 months, have you or anyone in your household had to do any of the following due to shortageof finances?

a) Not taken medicine or undergone medical treatment at a time it was needed (%)

b) Delayed paying house rent or mortgage (%)

c) Cut back on the number of meals per day (%)

d) Cut back on the quality of food purchased (%)

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National

Sinhala

Tamil

Up Country Tamil

Muslim

0 30 60 90

YesNo

National

Sinhala

Tamil

Up Country Tamil

Muslim

0 33 67 100

YesNo

National

Sinhala

Tamil

Up Country Tamil

Muslim

0 33 67 100

YesNo

National

Sinhala

Tamil

Up Country Tamil

Muslim

0 27 53 80

YesNo


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Development

Respondents were asked about what sectors they would allocate money to if they were giventhe opportunity and the top three sectors selected were Education, Health and Agriculture.Choices are similar across the board from an ethnic perspective as well except with theMuslim community which chose the Finance Ministry, with an emphasis on managing theeconomy, as their second most preferred sector to allocate money from the National Budget.(Refer Graph 1.7). The Appropriations Bill 2014 which was presented to Parliament inOctober 2013 showed that the biggest allocation of Rs 253.9 billion has been allocated tothe Ministry of Defence and Urban Development. Ministry of Health was allocated Rs 117.68billion, Ministry of Education 38.84 billion and Higher Education 29.5 billion.

Graph 1.7: If you were able to decide on the top three sectors the national budget should make allocations to, what would these three sectors be?

National

Sinhala

Tamil

UpCountryTamil

Muslim

12

Education47.7%

Health41.5%

Agriculture31%

Education

39.7%Health40.4%

Agriculture35.4%

Education73.7%

Health43.4%

Agriculture23.7%

Education63.7%

Health59.6%

Agriculture23.9%

Education63.7%

Health39.3%

Finance34.1%


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Respondents were given a list and were asked to select the three most important areas thatthey felt the Government should pay urgent attention to. The list included infrastructure/ roads, agriculture, health, cost of living, crime, corruption, reducing poverty, unemployment,management of economy, education and ood relief. Overall, the three main areas that wereselected were cost of living, reducing poverty and education. From an ethnic perspective, theselected areas differ with the Sinhala community selecting health as the second mostimportant area while the Tamil and Up Country Tamil respondents selected education as themost important priority followed by unemployment (Refer Graph 1.8).

Compared to data from 2011, cost of living was the top most priority for all communities. Forthe Sinhala community in addition to cost of living, infrastructure/roads and agriculture weretheir areas of choice while reducing poverty and unemployment were the important areas forthe other three communities.

Graph 1.8: Out of the following list, what are the three most important areas the Government should pay urgent attention to?

National

Sinhala

Tamil

UpCountryTamil

Muslim

13

Cost of living58.5%

Reducingpoverty35.2%

Education33.2%

Cost of living58.5% Health33.1%

Reducingpoverty

33%

Education52.3%

Unemployment46.5%

Cost of living40.1%

Cost of living

72.4%

Reducingpoverty44.1%

Education50.9%

Unemployment43.4%

Education

39.9%

Reducing

poverty37.9%


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Since the end of war the accelerated development drive of the Government has been largelyconcentrated on infrastructure and beautication. Respondents were asked about the threemain results they would like to see from the current development process and were asked toselect their top three from the following list - reduction in cost of living, improvedinfrastructure, addressing unemployment/ creating more jobs, developing agriculture,improved healthcare service and better education facilities. Cost of living once again wasselected as the most important for majority Sri Lankans, followed by creation of more jobsand better education facilities ( Refer Graph 1.9) . The 2011 data showed the same selectionsas well, with slight differences with improved infrastructure being the second main resultselected by the Sinhala community and improved healthcare being the third main resultedselected by the Tamil community.

Graph 1.9: What are the three main results you would like to see from the current development process?

National

Sinhala

Tamil

UpCountryTamil

Muslim

14

Reduction incost of living

78.3%

Addressingunemployment/ Creating more

jobs56.5%

Bettereducationfacilities38.4%


78.5%

Addressingunemployment/

Creating more jobs52.7%

Developingagriculture

40.7%


73.2%


70%


88.3%


jobs67.8%


jobs




jobs67.5%



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61.1% of those polled believe that the Government should give priority to allocating resourcesto rebuilding the conict affected areas, even if it means that less money is spent in the rest ofthe country. This opinion is held by almost 80% of the Tamil community while only 50% theMuslim community believes the same. Around 18 - 20% of Up Country Tamil and Muslimcommunities think that rebuilding the conict areas should not be given priority as there aremany other problems facing the rest of the country as well (Refer Graph 1.10 ). 20% ofrespondents from both the Sinhala and Muslim communities say they have no opinionregarding this issues. This is similar to the data from the 2011 survey.

Graph 1.10: Which statement is most agreeable to you?

Option A - The Government should give priority to allocating resources to rebuilding theconflict affected areas, even if this means that less money is spent in the rest of the country

Option B - There are many other problems facing this country that the Government shouldfocus on; rebuilding the conflict affected areas should not be given priority over the needs ofthe rest of the country.

15

National

Sinhala

Tamil

Up Country Tamil

Muslim

0 25 50 75 100

Option A Option B Neither Could not understand No Opinion

%


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Summary

Around 82% of Sri Lankans say that the general security situation in the country haschanged for the better over the last two years, with 42.8% stating that it has got a lotbetter.

60% are hopeful that the general security situation will get better in the next two years, withthe Up Country Tamil community being the most optimistic with 51% stating that it will geta lot better.

24.6% believe that Sri Lanka is much more democratic since the end of war while 32% sayit is somewhat more democratic.

Only 32.3% of Sri Lankans have heard of the LLRC.

70% say that Sinhala is the only ofcial language of Sri Lanka.

33.4% believe that in the last two years the Government has done a little but not enoughto address the root causes of the conict while 27.9% believe the Government has done alot.

Around 52% approve of the role of the forces expanding to include civilian tasks with17.2% stating that they strongly approve. 52.2% of Sinhala, 55.1% of Tamil, 50% of UpCountry Tamil and 44% of Muslim respondents stated approval with 40.6% of Up Country

Tamil respondents saying that they strongly approve.

35.4% believe that they are completely free to express their feelings about politics,

irrespective of where they are and who they are with while 75% say that they arecompletely free to choose who to vote for without feeling pressured.

63% believe that their vote has an impact on the outcome of election.

If an unjust law was passed in Sri Lanka, 30% of Sri Lankans think that there is nothingthey can do about it while another 30% disagree with that.

Positive changes since the end of war include being able to travel within the countrywithout fear (43.4%), roads, highways and bridges being developed (20.1%) and the

development of the country (17.4%). When it comes to negative changes, 52.8% of therespondents chose not to answer the question. 10.6% said increase in crime (murder,robbery etc), 9.7% said increase in the cost of goods and 8.8% said increase in corruption.

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2

POST WAR SRI LANKA


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Security

Around 82% of Sri Lankans say that the general security situation in the country has changedfor the better over the last two years with 42.8% stating that it has got a lot better. Aroundhalf of the Sinhala community believe it has got a lot better while 46.8% of Tamil, 54.7% ofUp Country Tamil and 38.3% of Muslim community say it has got a little better. It isnoteworthy that around 11% of respondents from both the Tamil and Muslim communitiessay that it has got a little worse (Refer Graph 2.1) .

Around 60% are hopeful that the general security situation will get better in the next twoyears, with the Up Country Tamil community being the most optimistic with 51% stating thatit will get a lot better. Around 20% of Sri Lankans are not sure about whether it will get betteror worse (Refer Graph 2.2) .

Graph 2.1: How do you think the general security situation in this country has changed over the last 2 years?

Graph 2.2: How do you think the general security situation in this country will change over the next 2 years?

17

0

20

40

60


Got a lot better Got a little better Stayed the same Got a little worseGot a lot worse Dont know

0

20

40

60


Will get a lot better Will get a little better Stay the same Will get a little worseWill get a lot worse Dont know


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Reconciliation

24.6% of Sri Lankans believe that Sri Lanka is much more democratic since the end of warwhile 32% say it is somewhat more democratic. However, 22.4% say that they do not knowwhether the level of democracy has increased or decreased since the end of war. From thefour communities, the Up Country Tamil community believe that Sri Lanka is more democraticthe most - with around 40% stating that it is much more democratic (Refer Graph 2.3) .

When compared with 2011 data, the views are fairly similar across the communities except inthe Muslim community. In 2011, 71.5% from the Muslim community believed that the level ofdemocracy had increased since the end of war with 34% saying that it is much moredemocratic. However in 2013, those from the same community who thought the same haddropped to 18.4%.

Graph 2.3: Some people say that after the end of war, the level of democracy in Sri Lanka has increased. Please tell me how strongly you agree or disagree with this statement?

The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) was appointed in May 2010 tofocus on the causes of conict, its effect on the people, and promote national unity and

reconciliation, so that all citizens of Sri Lanka, irrespective of ethnicity or religion could live indignity and a sense of freedom and in July 2012 the Government of Sri Lanka released aNational Plan of Action to Implement the Recommendations of the LLRC in response to thenal LLRC report. The Action Plan is categorised under ve themes InternationalHumanitarian Law, Human Rights, Land Return and Resettlement, Restitution/CompensatoryRelief and Reconciliation.

While the LLRC was meant to be the Governments key driver of reconciliation, only 32.3% ofSri Lankans have heard of it. The highest awareness is amongst the Tamil community

18

0

17

33

50


Yes, much more democratic Yes, somewhat more democraticIt has remained the same No, somewhat less democraticNo, much less democratic Dont know


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(45.2%), which is an increase from 2011 where only 32.5% knew of the LLRC (Refer Graph 2.4 ). Awareness in the Up Country Tamil and Muslim communities have increased from11.8% and 10.4% in 2011 to 31.6% and 30.1% respectively in 2013.

Graph 2.4: Have you heard of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliations Commission (LLRC)?

When asked about what the ofcial language in Sri Lanka is, a majority of Sri Lankans said

that it is Sinhala only while only 15% gave the correct answer of Sinhala and Tamil. The beliefthat the ofcial language of Sri Lanka being Sinhala only is primarily held by the Sinhalesecommunity. 82.2% of those from the community stated the ofcial language was Sinhala onlywhile 7.8% said Sinhala and Tamil. Around 40% of Tamil, Up Country Tamil and Muslimcommunities also believe that the ofcial language is Sinhala only ( Refer Graph 2.5) .

Graph 2.5: Can you tell me the official language of Sri Lanka?

19

0

23

47

70


Yes No

0

30

60

90


Sinhala only Sinhala and Tamil Sinhala, Tamil and English Other


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While Sri Lanka is a post war country, it is not post conict. 33.4% believe that in the last twoyears the Government has done a little but not enough to address the root causes of theconict while 27.9% believe the Government has done a lot . 26.5% of the Tamil communitystate that the Government has done nothing and almost 50% say that the Government hasdone a little but not enough. 35.5% in the Sinhala community however state that theGovernment has done a lot. Majority of the Up Country Tamil community (58.8%) state thatthe Government has a little but not enough while almost 40% of the Muslim community saythat they do not know whether the Government had a lot or a little ( Refer Graph 2.6) .

In 2011, 32.3% of Tamil community said that in the previous two years (since the end of war)the Government had done nothing to address the root causes of the conict while 30.8%said it had done a little but not enough. In 2013 this changes to 26.5% saying theGovernment has nothing and increases to 48.4% saying the Government has a little but notenough.

Graph 2.6: In your opinion, in the past two years, do you think the government has doneenough to address the root causes of the conflict, which resulted in thirty years of war?

When asked if the Constitution should be changed based on recommendations by an allparty committee to produce a political solution to the countrys ethnic problem, a majority ofthe Tamil community (71%) agreed that it should be changed. This view is shared by 62.1%and 52.8% from the Up Country Tamil and Muslim communities respectively. However 14.9%of Sinhalese and 17.9% of Up Country Tamil respondents believe that there is no need for apolitical solution as the LTTE was completely defeated militarily. 32% of the Sri Lankans saidthat they have no opinion on this issue ( Refer Graph 2.7).

Opinion on this issue has not changed signicantly since 2011 except in the Up Country Tamilcommunity - in 2011, 30.8% said that the Constitution should be changed based onrecommendations by an all party committee while in 2013 this has increased to 62.1%.

20

0

20

40

60


Has done nothing Has done a little, but not enough Has done a lot Dont know


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Freedom of expression

35.4% of Sri Lankans believe that they are completely free to express their feelings aboutpolitics, irrespective of where they are and who they are with while 31.9% say that they aresomewhat free (Refer Graph 2.9) . However 30% of Tamil and 20% of Up Country Tamilrespondents said they are not at all free while 42.4% of Sinhalese respondents said they feelthey have the complete freedom. The sense of freedom expressed by the Tamil and Muslimcommunities has declined when looking at 2011 data. In 2011, 18.9% of Tamil and 9.1% ofMuslim respondents said that they are not at all free and in 2013 this increased to 29.2% and15.8% respectively. 50% of Muslim respondents said they are somewhat free in 2011 while in2013, the gure has decreased to 16.8%.

When it comes to joining any political organisation they want, 50% of respondents say thatthey feel completely free to do so. Almost 75% say that they are completely free to choosewho to vote for without feeling pressured. Since 2011, there is signicant increase in thefeeling of freedom when it comes to choosing who to vote for - in 2011 only 29.1% of Tamil,51% of Up Country Tamil and 26.6% of Muslim respondents said that they are completelyfree while in 2013 this increased to 65%, 88.4% and 61.7% respectively.

Graph 2.9: In Sri Lanka - how free do you think you are to?

A : Express your feelings about politics, irrespective of where you are and who youre withB: To join any political organisation you wantC: To choose who to vote for without feeling pressuredD : Protest/attend a demonstration against social injustice (rising cost of living, increase in busfares etc)E: Protest/ attend a demonstration against political injustice

22

A

B

C

D

E

0 25 50 75 100

Not at all free Not very free Somewhat free Completely free Dont know


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30.1% of Sri Lankans believe that they have no say in what the Government does while32.6% disagree with this statement. The belief that they have no say in what the Governmentdoes is mainly held by the Up Country Tamil (62.5%) and Tamil (46.5%) communities while36.6% of the Sinhala and 28.2% of the Muslim communities disagree.

There is a notable shift in opinion from 2011 in the Tamil, Up Country Tamil and Muslimcommunities while the opinion in the Sinhala community has not changed much since 2011.In 2011, 21% of Tamil, 41.2% of Up Country Tamil and 16% of Muslim respondents agreedthat they have no say in what the Government does and this increased in 2013 to 46.5%,62.5% and 29.2% respectively.

63% think that their vote has an impact on the outcome of elections. This is view is held byaround 63% of those from the Sinhala and Tamil community and 58% from the Up Country

Tamil and Muslim communities. Opinion has not changed signicantly since 2011 except inthe Muslim community and Up Country Tamil community - 47.3% in the Muslim communitythat believed their vote has an impact in 2011 increased to 58.2% in 2013, while 19.5% inthe Up Country Tamil community who think that their vote has no impact in 2011, increasedto 31.6% in 2013.

If an unjust law was passed in Sri Lanka, 30% of Sri Lankans believe that there is nothingthey can do about it while another 30% disagree with that. From an ethnic perspective, theUp Country Tamil (67.4%) and Tamil (52.3%) communities believe that there is nothing theycan do if an unjust law was passed in Sri Lanka while 34.4% of Sinhalese respondentsdisagree.

Changes since the end of war

Respondents were asked to name three good or positive changes or developments andthree negative changes that have taken place in Sri Lankan since the end of war. With regardto positive changes, 43.4% say that it is being able to travel within the country without fear,20.1% say development of roads, highways and bridges and 17.4% say the development ofthe country. Most from the Sinhalese community (52%) say being able to travel within thecountry while most from the Tamil community (38.3%) development of roads, highways andbridges and 30% from the same community say the ease in travel.

When it comes to the negative changes, 52.8% of the respondents chose not to answer thequestion - almost 60% of the Sinhalese community did not answer as well as 50% of the UpCountry Tamil community. 10.6% said increase in crime (murder, robbery etc), 9.7% saidincrease in the cost of goods and 8.8% said increase in corruption. Increase in crime was anegative change mentioned by all four key communities - Sinhala (9.6%), Tamil (16.6%), UpCountry Tamil (9.8%) and Muslim (10%).

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Summary

40.3% of Sri Lankans stated that they have a great deal of trust in the Army while 46.1%said that they have some trust.

People trust political parties the least with 40.5% stating that they have no trust and only4.9% said that they have a great deal of trust.

20% also have no trust in the Police and the Parliament.

45.3% of Sri Lankans strongly approve the idea of allocating a xed quota for womencandidates for each district at the elections while 33.3% said that they somewhat approveof this idea.

40% think that the number of terms a President can serve should be restricted to twowhile 36.8% say that there should be no limit.

Among Members of Parliament, elected Local Government ofcials, Government ofcials,Police and NGOs, Sri Lankans believe that the most amount of corruption is prevalentamong the Police and Members of Parliament.

57% believe that China has Sri Lankas best interest at heart while around 20% do notthink that India and USA have Sri Lankas best interest at heart.

61.8% of Sri Lankans say that they do not know whether the process of impeachment ofJustice Shirani Bandaranayake was fair or not while 12% said that they were not aware ofthe impeachment. Almost 20% believe that the process of impeachment was not fair.

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3

THE GOVERNMENT


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Trust in Institutions

From a list of key institutions that affect how the country is run, citizens place the mostamount of trust in the Army, the Courts and the Central National Government (Refer Graph3.1) . 40.3% of respondents stated that they have a great deal of trust in the Army while46.1% said that they have some trust. People trust political parties the least with 40.5%stating that they have no trust and only 4.9% said that they have a great deal of trust. 20% ofSri Lankans also have no trust in the Police and the Parliament. Many are unsure about theElection Commission and NGOs as around 42% stated that they do not know how muchthey trust or not trust these institutions.

Graph 3.1: Level of trust in institutions

26

Central/National Government

Provincial Government

Local Government

Police

Army

Courts

Parliament

Political Parties

Election Commission

NGOs

0 25 50 75 100

Great deal of trust Some trust No trust Dont know


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While there are some differences among the different ethnic communities the most notabledifferences are with regard to trust in the Army and trust in NGOs. The Sinhalese communityhas the most amount of trust in the Army in comparison to the other communities - 50.3%said a great deal of trust, 45.2% said some trust and 1.4% said no trust. In contrast, only10.6% from the Tamil community said that they have a great deal of trust and 33.5% said notrust while 47.9% said that they have some trust. Around 20% of Up Country Tamil andMuslim respondents also stated that they have no trust in the Army.

When it comes to NGOs, it is the Tamil community that has the most of trust - 31.7% saidgreat deal of trust, 48.2% said some trust while only 4.6% said no trust. The Sinhalacommunity has the least amount of trust in NGOs with only 1.6% stating that they have agreat of trust and 25% stating that they have no trust. 45.6% said that they were did notknow.

Comparing to 2011 data, the most notable shifts are an increase in trust in the Tamil and UpCountry Tamil communities towards the Central Government and the decrease in trusttowards political parties across all communities.

Women in Parliament

On the idea of allocating a xed quota for women candidates for each district at the elections,45.3% said that they strongly approve while 33.3% said that they somewhat approve. Themost amount of approval comes from the Tamil (71.1%) and Up Country Tamil (77.3%)communities while disapproval is highest among Muslim respondents with 30.5% stating thatthey strongly disapprove while 12.2% state that they somewhat disapprove - however almost30% do they their strong approval (Refer Graph 3.2) .

Since 2011, there are shifts in opinion in all four communities. In 2011, 53.5% of Sinhaleseand 51.2% of Muslim respondents said that they strongly approve and this opinion hasdeclined in 2013 to 40.3% and 28.9% respectively. On the other hand, approval hasincreased in the Tamil and Up Country Tamil community as in 2011 around 60% from bothcommunities expressed strong approval which has increased in 2013.

Graph 3.2: What do you think of the idea of allocating a fixed quota for women candidates foreach district at the elections?

27

0

27

53

80


Strongly approve Somewhat approve Somewhat disapprove Strongly disapprove Dont know


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18th Amendment

The 18 th Amendment to the Constitution, which was passed on the 8 th of September 2010,introduced several key changes to Sri Lankas governance system, one of which included theremoval of the term limit that restricted any Sri Lankan President from serving more than twoterms. On the issue of whether the Constitution should limit the President to serving amaximum of two terms in ofce, Sri Lankans appear to be divided on the issue with almost40% stating that it should be limited to two terms while 36.8% say that there should be nolimit. From the four communities, it is mainly the Tamil community (52%) who believe thatthere should be limit of two terms while 53.7% from the Up Country Tamil community say thatthere should be no limit (Refer Graph 3.3) .

Since 2011, the opinion that there should be a limit on the number of terms has declined inthe Tamil, Up Country Tamil and Muslim communities while there is a slight increase in theSinhala community. In 2011, 64% of Tamil, 48.7% of Up Country Tamil and 50% of Muslimrespondents stated that the Presidential term should be limited to two terms and in 2013 thisdeclines to 51.9%, 32.6% and 41.8% respectively.

Graph 3.3: Which statement is most agreeable to you?

Option A - The constitution should limit the president to serving a maximum of two terms inoffice irrespective of how popular he isOption B - There should be no constitutional limit on how many terms the president can serve

in order to allow strong presidents to serve the country.

28

National

Sinhala

Tamil

Up Country Tamil

Muslim

0 25 50 75 100

Option A Option B Neither Could not understand No Opinion


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Corruption

Among Members of Parliament, elected Local Government ofcials, Government ofcials,Police and NGOs, people believe that the most amount of corruption is prevalent among thePolice and Members of Parliament (Refer Graph 3.4a and Graph 3.4d) . 77% believe thatcorruption is prevalent in the Police and among Members of Parliament with 32% stating thatit is prevalent to a great extent. From this list, respondents from Sinhala and Up Country Tamilcommunities believe that Members of Parliament are the most corrupt while respondentsfrom the Tamil and Muslim communities state it is the Police.

Since 2011, opinion has changed slightly across the four communities however what isnoteworthy is that assessment of level of corruption among Members of Parliament haschanged in all communities with more respondents believing that the prevalence of corruptionis to a great extent. 21.6% of Sinhala, 13.7% of Tamil, 31.9% of Up Country Tamil and 17.2%of Muslim respondents said that corruption is prevalent to a great extent amongst Membersof Parliament in 2011 - this increases to 31.3%, 29.2%, 41.7% and 31% in 2013 respectively.

Graph 3.4: Some people are accused of being engaged in various types of corruption. In youropinion, to what degree is corruption prevalent among individuals in the following institutions?

a) Members of Parliament

b) Elected Local Government officials

29

0

17

33

50


To a great extent Some extent Not at all Dont know

0

20

40

60




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c) Government Officials

d) Police

e) NGOs

30

0

23

47

70



0

17

33

50



0

20

40

60




34/63


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Impeachment of Chief Justice

The impeachment of Justice Shirani Bandaranayake on the grounds of corruption took placeat the beginning of 2013. The process of impeachment was declared both unconstitutionaland illegal by the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, however Mohan Peiris took oaths asthe 44th Chief Justice of Sri Lanka on January 16th 2013.

Majority (61.8%) say that they do not know whether the process of impeachment was fair ornot while 12% said that they were not aware of the impeachment. Almost 20% believe thatthe process of impeachment was not fair. Across the four main communities, most say thatthey do not know if the process was fair not with the Sinhala community being the highest at68.7%. 36.2% from the Muslim community and 26% from the Tamil community believe thatthe process of impeachment was not fair (Refer Graph 3.6) .

Graph 3.6: Do you think the process of impeachment of Justice Shirani Bandaranayake wasfair?

32

0

23

47

70


Yes No Don't know/Not sure I am not aware of the impeachment


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Summary

Sri Lankans trust news and information from privately owned television channels the mostwith 28% stating that they they trust them to a great extent and 55.6% to some extent.

42.5% believe that the media in Sri Lanka is completely free to criticise the Governmentwhile 25% disagree.

40% think that the state media in Sri Lanka does not give fair coverage to the views ofopposition political parties. Almost 50% believe that the private media does give faircoverage to the views of opposition political parties.

41.4% state that the media should have a right to publish without Government controlwhile 33.7% state that the Government has a right to control media content.

When asked if the news media should constantly investigate and report on corruption andthe mistakes made by the Government, 73% of Sri Lankans said yes.

Most Sri Lankans get the political news and information from television and less so fromnewspaper and radio.

33

4

MEDIA


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Media reporting

42.5% of Sri Lankans believe that the media in Sri Lanka is completely free to criticise theGovernment, with 12% amongst them stating that they strongly agree with this statement.However, 25% say that they disagree and that they do not think that the media in Sri Lankais completely free to criticise the Government (Refer Graph 4.2) . Opinion has not signicantlyshifted since 2011 on this statement.

Around 60% of the Up Country Tamil community believe that the media is free to criticise theGovernment with 43% stating that they somewhat agree. 21.8% of Tamil respondentsstrongly disagree with the statement while 7.9% from the Sinhala community also stronglydisagree.

Graph 4.2: Some people say that the media in Sri Lanka is completely free to criticise theGovernment as they wish. Please tell me how strongly you agree or disagree with this

statement?

40% of Sri Lankans believe that the state media in Sri Lanka does not give fair coverage tothe views of opposition political parties (Refer Graph 4.3) , however almost 50% state that theprivate media gives fair coverage to the views of opposition political parties (Refer Graph 4.4) .Opinion has not changed signicantly since 2011, however the percentage of people whobelieve private media gives fair coverage has increased from 40.7% in 2011 to 48.6% in2013.

35

0

17

33

50


Strongly agree Somewhat agree Neither agree nor disagree Somewhat disagreeStrongly disagree Dont know/Not sure


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Graph 4.3: Do you think the state media in Sri Lanka gives fair coverage to the views of theopposition political parties?

Graph 4.4: Do you think the private media in Sri Lanka gives fair coverage to the views of theopposition political parties?

Should media have a right to publish any views and ideas without Government control orshould the Government have a right to prevent the media from publishing things it considersharmful to society? 41.4% think that the media should have a right to publish withoutGovernment control while 33.7% believe that Government has a right to control mediacontent (Refer Graph 4.5 ).

From the four key communities, it is the Tamil community (64%) that mainly thinks that themedia should have complete control of content. The Sinhalese community appear divided onthe issue with 34.3% saying that the media should have complete control while 33.7% sayingthe Government should have a right to prevent the media from publishing things it considersharmful to society.

36

0

17

33

50


Yes No Don't know/ Not sure

0

23

47

70


Yes No Don't know/ Not sure


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When asked if the news media should constantly investigate and report on corruption and themistakes made by the Government, 73% of Sri Lankans said yes while only 7% believe thattoo much reporting on negative issues such as corruption harms the country (Refer Graph4.6) . More than 80% of Tamil and Up Country Tamil respondents believe that the news mediashould constantly investigate corruption while agreement from Muslim (60%) and Sinhalese(72.4%) was lower in comparison. On this issue, opinion remains the same since 2011.

Graph 4.5: Please tell me which statement is most agreeable to you -

Option A: The media should have a right to publish any views and ideas without government controlOption B: The Government should have the right to prevent the media from publishing things itconsiders harmful to society

Graph 4.6: Please tell me which statement is most agreeable to you -

Option A: The news media should constantly investigate and report on corruption and the mistakes made by the GovernmentOption B: Too much reporting on negative events, like corruption, only harms the country

37

National

Sinhala

Tamil

Up Country Tamil

Muslim

0 33 67 100

Option A Option B Neither Could not understand No opinion

National

Sinhala

Tamil

Up Country Tamil

Muslim

0 33 67 100

Option A Option B Neither Could not understand No opinion


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Media consumption

Most Sri Lankans get political news and information from television and less so fromnewspaper and radio, with 54% stating that they watch television every day for political newsand 21% watching a few times a week. From the three options, newspapers seem to be theleast consumed with 42% stating that they never read a newspaper for political news andonly 14% reading every day.

Around 60% of Sinhalese and Up Country Tamil respondents watch television every day forpolitical news while 36.3% of Tamil respondents and 43.4% of Muslim respondents concur.

Around 30% of Tamil and Muslim respondents stated that they never watch television forpolitical news.

When comparing to data from 2011, there is no change around newspaper and radioconsumption but there is a decrease in the percentage of Sri Lankans who say that theywatch television everyday for political news - in 2011, 61.7% said that they tune in every day.

Graph 4.7: How often do you -

38

EverydayFew times a week Once a week Never

Read a newspaperfor political news

Listen to radio forpolitical news

Watch television forpolitical news


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Summary

96.3% of Sri Lankans believe that they are free to practice their religion in their community.

91.4% say that their religion can be practiced without any restrictions, however the Muslim

community expresses the most amount of lack of freedom with 21% stating that they canpractice but with some restriction and almost 10% stating that there is no freedom.

Compared to the 2011 data, there is a decline in the assessment of freedom from theMuslim community.

Sri Lankans are mostly agreeable to multi ethnic schools (59.5%) and least agreeable to aclose family member marrying someone from a different ethnic group (40.8% stated thatthey did not agree to this).

Almost 40% of Sri Lankans are not agreeable to living in a neighbourhood where morethan half their neighbours were from a different ethnic group.

The Muslim community is very much against the idea of a close family member marryingsomeone from a different ethnicity with 78% of respondents stating that they are notagreeable.

The Up Country Tamil community appears to be the most tolerant with regard to otherethnic groups when comparing the four communities.

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5

TOLERANCE


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Religious tolerance

Majority of Sri Lankans (96.3%) believe that they are free to practice their religion in theircommunity. Agreement is high across all ethnic communities, with the Muslim communitybeing the lowest comparatively with 86.8% saying that they can practice without anyrestriction and 10.2% stating that they can practice but with some amount of restriction(Refer Graph 5.1) .

However the assessment of the level of freedom their religion has in Sri Lanka to practicetraditional customs or rituals changes notably when compared to assessment of individualfreedom. While overall 91.4% say their religion can be practiced without any restrictions, theMuslim community expresses the most amount of lack of freedom with 21% stating that theycan practice but with some restriction and almost 10% stating that there is no freedom (ReferGraph 5.2) .

Graph 5.1: How free do you think you are to practice your religion in your community?

Graph 5.2: How do you assess the level of freedom your religion has in Sri Lanka to practice itstraditional customs/rituals?

40

0

33

67

100


I can practice without any restrictionI can practice, but with some amount of restrictionI dont have the freedom to practice my religion in my communityDont know/ Not sure

0

33

67

100


Can be practiced without any restrictionCan be practiced, but with some amount of restriction

There is no freedom to practice the traditional customs/rituals of my religionDont know/ Not sure


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b) Working for and taking instructions from a person who is of a different ethnic group

c) Schools that are multi ethnic

d) A close family member marrying someone from a different ethnicity

43

0

33

67

100


Agreeable Neither agree or disagree Not agreeable Dont know/ Not sure

0

33

67

100



0

27

53

80




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Summary

Someone who was in born in Sri Lanka or has a Sri Lankan birth certicate, someone wholoves Sri Lanka and someone who lives in Sri Lanka are key descriptions people use todescribe someone who is a true Sri Lankan.

According to the Sinhalese community a true Sri Lankan is someone who was born in SriLanka while the feature most mentioned by the Tamil community is someone who speaksboth Sinhala and Tamil.

Majority of Sri Lankans (87.8%) believe that having a Sri Lankan citizenship is veryimportant for someone to be truly Sri Lankan, while to have been born in Sri Lanka followsclosely behind. The least importance was assigned to to be able to speak Tamil with only38.6% saying that it is very important.

When asked how they would describe their own identity, 74.1% identied with personaldetails such as their gender, their occupation, marital status and education.

The three most important groups that Sri Lankans think describe them best are theirreligion, the part of Sri Lanka they live in and their family or marital status.

90.4% strongly agree with the statement I am proud to be Sri Lankan.

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6

IDENTITY


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National Identity

Sri Lankans have a lot ways to describe a person they think can be called a true Sri Lankanand the top three descriptions are - someone who was in born in Sri Lanka or has a SriLankan birth certicate, someone who loves Sri Lanka and someone who lives in Sri Lanka(Refer Graph 6.1) . What is interesting about these descriptions is that they differ with eachethnic community and no two communities have the same top three descriptions.

For the Sinhala community the description that most mentioned was someone who was bornin Sri Lanka or has a Sri Lankan birth certicate, for the Tamil community it is someone whospeaks both Sinhalese and Tamil, for the Up Country Tamil community it is someone wholives in Sri Lanka and for the Muslim community a true Sri Lankan is someone lives a goodlife.

Graph 6.1: If someone from another country asked you to describe a true Sri Lankan, whatwould be the first three things you tell them?

National

Sinhala

Tamil

UpCountryTamil

Muslim

45

Born in SriLanka/Have

SL birthcerticate

23.5%

Someonewho lovesSri Lanka

19.9%

Someonewho lives inSri Lanka

15.8%

Born in Sri

Lanka/HaveSL birth

certicate27.3%

Someonewho lovesSri Lanka

24.4%

A Sinhalese/

Someone whosefamily has been

Sinhalese forgenerations

14.8%

Someone whospeaks both

Sinhalese and Tamil20.4%


18.3%

Someone wholives a good

life14.8%


40.2%

Born in SriLanka/Have

SL birthcerticate

30.7%


life40.1%


17.5%

Someonewho has SriLankan

citizenship18.3%


life27.5%


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Respondents were given a list of factors that people believe are important to be a true SriLankan and were asked to rate how important they thought those factors were. The listincluded - to have been born in Sri Lanka, to have Sri Lankan citizenship, to have lived in SriLanka for most of ones life, to be able to speak Sinhalese, to be able to speak Tamil, torespect Sri Lankas political institutions and laws and to have Sri Lankan ancestry.

From the list, majority (87.8%) think that having a Sri Lankan citizenship is very importantwhile to have been born in Sri Lanka follows closely behind with 86.9% also saying it is veryimportant (Refer Graph 6.2a and 6.2b) . The least importance was assigned to to be able tospeak Tamil with only 38.6% saying that it is very important and 32.2% saying it is somewhatimportant (Refer Graph 6.2e) . In comparison, 75.3% believe that it is very important to beable to speak Sinhalese in order to be truly Sri Lankan (Refer Graph 6.2d) .

Majority of respondents from the four key communities believe it is very important to havebeen born in Sri Lanka, to have Sri Lankan citizenship and to respect Sri Lankas politicalinstitutions to be considered truly Sri Lankan. However, there is some variance acrosscommunities for the other factors.

Around 56% of Tamil and Muslim respondents believe that it is very important to have lived inSri Lanka for most of ones life while a far higher percentage of Up Country Tamil respondents(85.4%) agree with the same (Refer Graph 6.2c) .

Majority of Sinhala (85.2%) and Up Country Tamil respondents (81.3%) believe that it is veryimportant to be able to speak Sinhala for someone to be truly Sri Lankan while agreement onthis score is much lower in the Tamil and Muslim communities with only 44.2% and 42.9%

saying that it very important. Almost 20% from both these communities also said that it isvery unimportant (Refer Graph 6.2d) .

From the four communities, it is the Sinhala and Muslim communities that consider speaking Tamil as the least important factor to someone being truly Sri Lankan. 55.9% of Muslimrespondents said that it is important with only 50.3% saying that it is very important while71.9% of Sinhala respondents said it is important with only 32.2% saying that it is veryimportant (Refer Graph 6.2e) .

When it comes to having Sri Lankan ancestry, majority of Up Country Tamil respondents

(81.4%) believe it is very important while only around 55% of Tamil and Muslim respondentsthink it is very important (Refer Graph 6.2g) .

46


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Graph 6.2: How important do you think the following are for being truly Sri Lankan?

a) To have been born in Sri Lanka

b) To have Sri Lankan citizenship

c) To have lived in Sri Lanka for most of ones life

47

0

33

67

100


Very Important Somewhat Important Neither important or unimportant Somewhat Unimportant Very Unimportant Don't Know

0

33

67

100



0

30

60

90




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d) To be able to speak Sinhalese

e) To be able to speak Tamil

f) To respect Sri Lankas political institutions and laws

48

0

30

60

90



0

27

53

80



0

33

67

100




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Graph 6.3:Which of the following groups are most important to you in describing who you are?

National

Sinhala

Tamil

UpCountryTamil

Muslim

90.4% strongly agree with the statement I am proud to be Sri Lankan. Majority ofrespondents across all four communities also say that they strongly agree with 93.4% fromthe Sinhala community being the highest (Refer Graph 6.4) .

Graph 6.4: I am proud to be Sri Lankan

50

Religion54.9%

The part ofSri Lankayou live in

54.1%

Family ormaritalstatus54.1%

Religion59.7%


48.7%

Race/ ethnicbackground

46.5%

The part ofSri Lanka

you live in67.7%

Family ormarital

status58%

Current/previous

occupation51.1%


78.9%

Family ormaritalstatus61.3%

Current/previous

occupation50.9%

The part of

Sri Lankayou live in61.9%

Religion61%

Family or

maritalstatus56.9%

0

33

67

100


Strongly agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Strongly disagree


54/63


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Sri Lankan politics and governance

For 42.3% of Sri Lankans, it is important that public ofcials represent their ethnicity orreligion. This is most important to the Up Country Tamil community (63.2%) and leastimportant to the Tamil community where around 30% said that it is not important to them(Refer Graph 7.1a) .

The ethnicity or religion of public ofcials should have no relevance to their power and dutiesis what 70% of Sri Lankans believe with the Sinhala (73%) and Up Country Tamil (74.2%)communities being the highest percentage that expresses this while only 43.7% of Muslimrespondents express the same while almost 30% say that there should be a relevance totheir powers and duties (Refer Graph 7.1b) .

Graph 1: Please state your level of agreement for the following

a) It is important to me that public officials represent my ethnicity/religion (Public officials

include all elected officials (UC/MC/PS/Parliament), politicians and unelected officials)

b) The ethnicity or religion of public officials should have no relevance to their powers andduties

52

0

27

53

80


Agree Neither agree or disagree Disagree Don't know

0

23

47

70




56/63


On the topic of ethnicity or religion based political parties Sri Lankans are divided - around42% believe that it is problematic for a country like Sri Lanka to have political parties basedon ethnicity or religion and this opinion is similar across the communities except the Muslimcommunity where only 28.6% think it is problematic. 17.9% say it is not problematic while31% say that they do not know (Refer Graph 7.1c) .

However the percentages of those who say that it is unavoidable for a country like Sri Lankato have political parties based on ethnicity or religion are almost the same as those who saythat it is problematic. 41.5% say it is unavoidable and agreement is lowest in the Muslimcommunity (32.7%) (Refer Graph 7.1d) .

c) I think it is problematic for a country like Sri Lanka to have ethnicity/religion based political parties

d) I think it is unavoidable for a country like Sri Lanka to have ethnicity/religion based political parties

53

0

17

33

50



0

17

33

50




57/63


The role of religious priests and leaders in Sri Lankan politics has in the recent years been anissue that has led to many debates. 34% believe that religious leaders or priests shouldinuence opinion by expressing their views on moral/social/policy/political matters while23.5% do not think they should. Most respondents from the Sinhala community (35.5%) saythat religious priests/leaders should inuence opinion while 33.1% of Tamil and 42.7% of UpCountry Tamil respondents believe they should not inuence (Refer Graph 7.1e) .

40% think that religious leaders/ priests should have an ofcial role in making Governmentpolicy and this opinion is held by 46% of Sinhalese as well. However, 41.3% of Tamil and60% of Up Country Tamil communities do not think that they should have an ofcial role(Refer Graph 7.1f) .

e) Religious leaders/priests should influence opinion by expressing their views on moral/social/ policy/political matters

f) Religious leaders/priests should have an official role in making government policy

54

0

17

33

50



0

20

40

60




58/63


It is interesting that while a fair percentage of Sri Lankans are agreeable to religious leaders/ priests expressing their views of various matters to inuence policy or even having an ofcialrole in making Government policy, on the topic of religious leaders/priests in Parliament andother legislative bodies, almost 40% say that they should not be represented in such fora.

Almost 70% of Up Country Tamil and 47.2% of Tamil respondents also share this view (ReferGraph 7.1g) .

On whether religious leaders/priests should have a role in politics or governance, Sri Lankansare once again divided - 28.3% say that should have no role while 30% say that they shouldhave a role. 45.8% from the Up Country Tamil community say that they should have no rolewhile 35% from the Tamil community say that they should have a role (Refer Graph 1h) .

g) Religious leaders/priests should be represented in parliament and other legislative bodies

h) Religious leaders/priests have no role in politics or governance

55

0

23

47

70



0

17

33

50




59/63


Buddhism and the Constitution

35% of Sri Lankans believe that Buddhism has too much of a role in Sri Lankan politics while34% believe that it is the right amount. Majority of people from the Tamil (78.5%), Up Country

Tamil (74.7%) and Muslim (70.4%) communities say that Buddhisms role in Sri Lankanpolitics is too much while 44.5% of Sinhalese say it is the right amount (Refer Graph 7.2) .

Graph 7.2: What is your opinion about the role of Buddhism in Sri Lankan politics?

45.5% think that the Constitution of Sri Lanka should protect the freedom of religion as afundamental right and this opinion is held by 50.8% of Sinhala and 43.5% of Muslimrespondents. Almost 50% of Up Country Tamil respondents believe that Sri LankasConstitution should have reference to all major religions in the country while 37.9% of Tamilrespondents believe that Sri Lankas Constitution should have no mention of religion, exceptto guarantee the freedom of religion to all (Refer Graph 7.3) .

On the question of ethnicity and the Constitution, 65% think that Sri Lankas Constitution

should recognise ethnicity while 12.1% say that it should not recognise ethnicity. Majority ofthose from the Sinhala (67.3%), Tamil (66.2%) and Up Country Tamil (60.4%) communitiessay that the Constitution should recognise ethnicity while agreement is lesser from the Muslimcommunity with 44% saying it should recognise and 36% saying it should not recognise(Refer Graph 7.4) .

56

0

27

53

80


Too much Too little Right amount Not important to me Dont know


60/63


Graph 7.3: Please tell me which statement you agree with the most -

A: Sri Lankas Constitution should have no mention of religion, except to guarantee thefreedom of religion to all

B: Sri Lankas Constitution should have reference to all major religions in the countryC: Only Buddhism should be given a special place in Sri Lankas Constitution

D: Only Buddhism should be given a special place in Sri Lankas Constitution, while assuringthe freedom of religion to all others E: The Constitution of Sri Lanka should protect the freedom of religion as a fundamental right

Graph 7.4: Do you think Sri Lankas constitution should recognise ethnicity or should ourconstitution have no reference to ethnicity?

57

National

Sinhala

Tamil

Up Country Tamil

Muslim

0 25 50 75 100

A B C D E

National

Sinhala

Tamil

Up Country Tamil

Muslim

0 25 50 75 100

Yes, our constitution should recognise ethnicityNo, our constitution should have no reference to ethnicityDon't know


61/63


Expression of religious faith

According to 24.3% of Sri Lankans, there is too much expression of religious faith byBuddhist leaders while 22.1% say there is too little and 26.6% say it is the right amount. Froman ethnic perspective however there is a clearly divide between the Sinhala community andthe Tamil, Up Country Tamil and Muslim communities. 33.5% of Sinhalese say that theexpression of religious faith by Buddhist political leaders is the right amount while 28.4% saythat it is too little. However a majority of respondents from the other three communities -64.4% of Tamil, 53.1% of Up Country Tamil and 63.5% of Muslim respondents believe that itis too much (Refer Graph 7.5a) .

When it comes to Muslim political leaders, 29.5% of Sri Lankans say that there is too muchexpression of religious faith while 26.2% say that it is the right amount while another 26.5%say that they do not know. 42% of Muslim respondents say that expression of religious faithby Muslim political leaders is too little while 35% of Tamil and 40% of Up Country Tamilrespondents say it is too much (Refer Graph 7.5b) .

33.1% of Sri Lankans do not know what their opinion is regarding the expression of faith byChristian political leaders while 30.1% say it is the right amount. Around 35% from the Tamil,Up Country Tamil and Muslim communities say that it is too little (Refer Graph 7.5c) .

Opinion is similar for Hindu political leaders as well - 35% say that they do not know whattheir opinion is and 26.5% say that it is the right amount. 40% of Tamil respondents and43.8% of Up Country Tamil respondents say that it is too little while around 40% of Sinhalaand Muslim respondents say that they do not know (Refer Graph 7.5d) .

Documents

Top line survey results: Democracy in post-war Sri Lanka