Sri Lankans' Confidence in Government Shaky Before Attacks
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News that Sri Lanka's government knew but failed to heed warnings about possible attacks ahead of the deadly Easter Sunday bombings will likely only further test Sri Lankans' already fragile confidence in their national government.
Amid ongoing political infighting that some officials admit may have played a role in the failure to prevent the attacks, Sri Lankans' confidence in their government has been lower in the past two years than at any time in the past decade. Fifty-eight percent of Sri Lankans expressed confidence in their national government in 2018.
Results are based on face-to-face interviews with 1,000 adults in Sri Lanka, aged 15 and older, conducted from July 21-Sept. 13, 2018. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is 卤3.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. The margin of error reflects the influence of data weighting. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
Gallup's 2018 edition of its Global Law and Order report shows Venezuela and Afghanistan leading the countries where citizens feel least safe. Singapore rates as the world's safest.
Growth in Sri Lanka's economy is well below where it was last year -- down from 6% in 2008 to a projected 3.5% for 2009 -- but economic optimism and confidence in national institutions is rising. Likely driving this positivity is Sri Lankans' expectation that things will improve now that the war is over.
More Sri Lankans are suffering today than before their civil war ended in 2009. Despite the country's recent economic growth, more Sri Lankans than ever before are struggling to afford basics such as food and adequate shelter.
