While democratic values in Sri Lanka were rising in the post-war phase, they declined sharply since the constitutional crisis in 2018.
While democratic values in Sri Lanka were rising in the post-war phase, they declined sharply since the constitutional crisis in 2018
In showing anger against the deteriorating economic condition, the protesters The President’s Secretariat was stormed in Sri Lanka on Saturday and the Prime Minister’s private residence was set on fire. In 2021, the island nation had the best Human Development Index (HDI) among countries in the Indian subcontinent and the second best GDP per capita. Its collapse into chaos in recent months is mostly the result of financial mismanagement and uncertain policy decisions. The rapid erosion of democratic values in recent years is also one of the reasons for the display of public anger. When democratic values were rising in the post-war phase, they declined sharply since the constitutional crisis 2018
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democratic values
The graph shows the damage done after the end of the civil war in 2009 (yellow) and the constitutional crisis in late 2018 (blue) when President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and appointed Mahinda Rajapaksa in his place. Later, when his decision was opposed, he dissolved Parliament and called for a general election.
*All indices are on a scale of 0 to 1. zero is the lowest possible score and one is the highest
^ Compliance of the Judiciary Measured on a scale of 0 to 4 0: never 1: rarely 2: almost half the time 3: usually 4: always
@Executive Bribery Measured on a scale of 0 to 4 0: This is regular and expected 4: It never, or rarely happens
#ideology index Measured on a scale of 0 to 4 0: not at all 1: to some extent 2: somewhat but not the most important component 3: largely but not exclusively 4: almost exclusively
Source: V-Dem Institute, World Bank
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