ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka opposition leader Sajith Premadasa’s net favourability rating dropped 13 points to a new low of -66 and President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s dropped 8 points to -65 while leftist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s rating improved by 10 points to -9, a poll showed.
According to the monthly Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOT) by the Institute for Health Policy (IHP), the favourability ratings of all major party leaders remained negative in October, though Dissanayake did gain some significant ground.
By September, the net favourability rating of Dissanayake’s had risen to -19, with Premadasa’s favourability rating recorded at -53 points and Wickremasinghe’s at -52.
Favourability estimates for each month are based on 100–500 interviews conducted during that month and during a few weeks before and afterward to ensure a minimum set of responses, the IHP said. The October 2023 estimates are based on 394 (Premadasa), 358 (Dissanayake), 387 (Wickremasinghe), and 179 (Gotabaya Rajapaksa) interviews.
Noting that some members of the public misunderstand media reporting of these numbers, the IHP said that a negative score, i.e., a net favourability rating of less than zero, means that the individual or institution is unpopular. Only positive scores where net favourability is more than zero mean that the individual or institution is popular on average.
According to the IHP, SLOTS surveys a national sample of adults (ages 18 and over) reached by random digit dialling of mobile numbers, and others coming from a national panel of respondents who were previously recruited through random selection. SLOTS tracks favourability by asking respondents if they have a favourable or unfavourable opinion of a public figure or institution: net favourability being the average of the positive (+100) and negative (-100) responses. All estimates are weighted to match the national population with respect to age, sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sector, province and past voting preference. Monthly estimates are based on samples of 100+ interviews pooled from interviews in each month and from weeks before and afterwards. (Colombo/Nov18/2023)