The Folly of Delaying Elections
President Ranil Wickremesinghe, unlike his predecessors, was not elected by the people of Sri Lanka. He was appointed by SLPP MPs to replace the ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Mr Wickremesinghe is working…
Elections
Sajith Premadasa and A.K. Dissanayake Tied in Voter Poll
The Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS) MRP provisional estimates of presidential election voting intent in April 2024 show support for NPP/JVP leader A.K. Dissanayake dropped to…
Presidential Elections: A View from the North
For the first time, Sri Lanka’s presidential election in October will have three main contenders – President Ranil Wickremesinghe contesting under an independent symbol, the SJB represented by Sajith Premadasa and the…
Will Rajapaksas’ Support Help or Hurt President’s Election Chances?
Sri Lanka’s independent Election Commission announced late last week the conducting of a presidential election in accordance with the Constitution and the relevant statute between September 17 and October 16 2024. The…
Sajith Premadasa Reduces Gap with A.K. Dissanayake in Presidential Election
The Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS) MRP provisional estimates of presidential election voting intent in March 2024 show support for SJB leader Sajith Premadasa increasing to…
SJB Leads in Parliamentary Elections For First Time Since 2022
The latest estimates from Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) SLOTS MRP model confirm an increasing trend in support for SJB at the expense of the NPP/JVP. The SJB on 38% (+4) took…
A.K. Dissanayake in the Lead for President
The Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS) MRP provisional estimates of presidential election voting intent in February 2024 show no real changes compared to January. NPP/JVP leader…
Modest Gains in Voter Support for NPP/JVP and SJB
The latest estimates from Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) SLOTS MRP model show modest increases in support for NPP/JVP and SJB, with weakening support for the UNP and other parties, continuing trends…
Democracy in Sri Lanka: Backsliding or Inching Forward?
The world is becoming less democratic and more autocratic (i.e. authoritarian). One of the best sources of information is the annual issued by the V-Dem Institute in Sweden. The Institute continuously measures…
The Aragalaya and a Vote of No Confidence on the Speaker
The publishing of ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s memoirs, almost predictably titled The Conspiracy to oust me from the presidency, provide an opportunity to reevaluate those tumultuous events that did led to the…
The Presidential Politics of Economic Recovery
The year 2024 is an election year in Sri Lanka with the president’s term of office ending on November 17, 2024 and accordingly the conduct of a presidential election constitutionally mandated upon…
Youth Quota for Local Government: Band Aid or Stepping Stone?
Verité Research Local elections in Sri Lanka have been conspicuously absent since 2018, marking a significant hiatus in the democratic process. Initially slated for 2022, the elections faced successive postponements, first to…
A.K. Dissanayake Leads in Presidential Election Voting Preferences
The Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS) MRP provisional estimates of presidential election voting intent in January 2024 show NPP/JVP leader A.K. Dissanayake with the support of…
NPP/JVP Maintains Lead in Voting Intentions
The latest estimates from Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) revised SLOTS MRP model show no substantial change in general election voting intentions in January 2024 compared to the previous month. NPP/JVP continues…
Against Elections or Against Economics?
In his latest column, Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka criticises two economists for what he interprets to be a call for postponing presidential elections next year. Both economists, Dr Indrajit Coomaraswamy and Nimal Sanderatne,…
