Public approval rating for the Ranil Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government has sunk to 10 percent, says a recent poll.

According to a survey by Verite Research, a Colombo-based think tank, the government continues to have a poor, merely 10%, approval rating among the public, as shown by the results of a recent poll on the ‘Mood of the Nation’.

Verité Research has said in a media statement, titled, “Mood of the Nation” poll, for February 2023: “Another round of the Gallup Style “Mood of the Nation” poll was conducted in early February 2023 by Verité Research. It assessed the approval, satisfaction, and confidence of the nation, in relation to the government, the country, and the economy.

“The poll was conducted as a part of the syndicated survey instrument by Verité Research. This instrument also provides other organisations the opportunity to survey the sentiments of Sri Lanka.

1. Government approval rating | 10% | To the question, “Do you approve or disapprove of the way the current government is working?” only 10% said they approve (with an error margin of ± 2.04%). This is the same extreme low level as it was in October 2022. In June 2022 the approval ratings was at an all-time low of 3%.

2. Sri Lanka satisfaction | 4% | To the question, “In general, are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way things are going in Sri Lanka?” only 4% said they were satisfied (with an error margin of ± 1.50%). This rating was at 7% in October 2022 and 2% in June 2022.

3. Economic confidence | negative (-) 78.4 | Multiple choice questions on the condition and trajectory of the economy are used to generate an economic confidence score. The score can range from negative (-) 100 to positive (+) 100. A score above zero means more people see the economic conditions positively rather than negatively. If everyone thinks that the economy is in a poor condition (instead of good or excellent), and everyone also thinks it is getting worse (rather than better), then the score will be a (-) 100. In February 2023 0.3% rated the economic conditions as excellent, 6.0% rate it as good; and 6.3% rate it as getting better. The resulting score was a (-) 78.4 (rounded off as negative 78).  This rating was (-) 78 in October, and (-) 96 in June.

The present poll was conducted in early February 2023 and is based on an island-wide nationally representative sample of responses from over one thousand Sri Lankan adults. The sample and methodology were designed to limit the maximum error margin to under 3% at a 95% confidence interval. The specific error margins are reported with the results. The polling partner was Vanguard Survey (Pvt) Ltd.