On the 23rd April, President Sirisena completed a 100 days in office. On a site – one of many – that has monitored the implementation of the 100-days programme, 10 out of 25 promises are indicated to have been fulfilled. This week Groundviews wandered around in Colombo talking to its citizens in an attempt to find out what the public opinion is; are people satisfied with the new government?
Have the last three months had an impact on the lives of the Sri Lankan citizens and what are their prospects for the future? The opinions are diverse; some see change and have experience improvements in their lives, and some don’t. Some support the new government and some still support Mahinda Rajapaksa. A view that was consistent was the focus on the lowering of living costs and the raise of salaries. People are demanding their basic needs to be covered.
Other goals in the 100-days programme such as the introduction of the 19th Amendment and the Right to Information Act seems abstract to most of the citizens. Many did not know of them, others felt they were unimportant as long as the cost of living and the salaries did not improve. Furthermore, most of the interviewed citizens were either slightly or gravely disappointed with the new government, because they hadn’t kept their promises. On the other hand, several emphasised that 100 days is not enough to judge a new government and that they need more time to bring about change.
Produced by Ingeborg Lohfert Haslund-Vinding, a Danish journalist currently in Sri Lanka reporting for and working with Groundviews, access the new photo story here.
