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Y OUTH AND P OLITICS IN SRI LANKA. P RADEEP P EIRIS Delhi, 24 th November 2008. Profile. Sinhalese 74%, Tamil 12%, Muslim 7% and Estate Tamils 6% Main religions are Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christian 30% of the Sri Lankan population belongs to the age group of 15 to 29 - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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YYOUTH AND OUTH AND PPOLITICSOLITICSIN SRI LANKAIN SRI LANKA
PRADEEP PEIRIS
Delhi, 24th November 2008
2
Profile • Sinhalese 74%, Tamil 12%, Muslim 7% and
Estate Tamils 6%• Main religions are Buddhism, Hinduism,
Islam and Christian• 30% of the Sri Lankan population belongs
to the age group of 15 to 29• Literacy rate 91.8 in general. Amongst
Men 94.3% and amongst women 89.4% (1997 DCS)
• Level of unemployment amongst the A/L qualified is 15%.
3
Profile contd. • Unemployment by age
– 20 to 24 years 35.8%– 25 to 29 years 16%– 30 to 39 years 8%
• Employed areas:• 24% employed Skill agriculture and fisheries• 23.3% elementary occupations
• Desiring an occupation in:• 21% clerical• 0% in fisheries and agriculture
4
Politics • Patronage politics hindered youth entering into
public office.
• Regulations too has failed to change the situation– Nomination 30% from political parties for provincial and
local election.(1990 presidential commission)
• State of Democracy In South Asia (2004) provides valuable insight about youth and politics
– Support for democracy» Procedural » Substantive
– Political Participation– Ideology
5
Politics Electoral participation
7177
14 179
53 12 00
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Youth Mature
Voted in every election
Voted in most elections
Voted in some elections
Hardly ever voted
No Opinion
• Electoral participation is less amongst the urban youth
• Compared to other ethnic groups, electoral participation of Tamil youth is significantly low.
6
Politics
• Compared to older people youth discuss politics more often
How often Youth discuss politics
11
19 18
7
58 5661
55
30
2421
37
1 0 10
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Rural Urban Male Female
%
Often
Occasionally
Never
No opinion
7
Politics Total
%Urban
%Rural
%Men%
Women%
Have you ever taken part of protest
17 25 16 26 11
Have you ever taken part in a election campaign
20 16 21 29 12
Have you ever taken part in solving problems concerning the locality
32 31 32 42 23
Feel close to any political party
46 41 46 54 38
8
Politics How suitable is democracy for our country?
83
69
12
24
5 7
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Youth Mature
%
Suitable
No Opinion
Not suitable
9
Politics Do you think your vote has effect on how things are run in our country or do you think your vote makes no difference?
Makes no difference, 22
Has effect, 69
No Opinion, 9
• Significant proportion of women and urban youth express their skepticism whether their vote can make any difference
10
Politics Support for democratic government
6111
14
14
Democracy ispreferable to anyother kind ofgovernment
In certain situations, adictatorialgovernment can beprefe
It doesnt matter topeople like mewhether we have ademocr
No Opinion
11
Politics Trust in institutions
60
53
56
40
31
34
40
34
52
62
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
NationalGovernment
ProvicialGovernment
LocalGovernment
Parliament
PoliticalParties
%
Do nottrust
Trust
12
Politics Trust in institutions
62
69
73
74
52
30
19
19
21
44
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Civil Service
Electioncommission
Courts
Army
Police
%
Do nottrust
Trust
13
Politics Trust in institutions
64
55
85
75
3734
44
36
68
54
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
NationalGovernment
ProvicialGovernment
Army Courts Parliament
%
Sinhala
Tamil
14
Politics Reducing the powers of central government and increasing
the powers of Provincial councils
33
50 51 5248
13
21
5
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Sinhala Tamil Muslim Estate Tamils
%
Agree
Disagree
15
Politics How do you think we can end the war and arrive at peace in
Sri Lanka?
54
4 5
29
10 1210
8074
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Sinhala Tamil Muslim
%
Militarymeans
MilitaryandNegotiation
Negotiation
16
Politics Satisfaction with President's performance
79
12
5449
5
20
92
5
55
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Sinhala Tamil Muslim
%
Law andOrder
Cost ofLiving
Waragainstthe LTTE
17
Comments
• Prefer democracy over its alternatives
• Yet, prefer delegative forms of democratic
government
• Sri Lankan youth divided on ethnic line
• Rising ethno religious extremism
• We are strong market liberals but week liberal
democrats.
