Aung San Suu Kyi’s new government received a mix of encouraging and discouraging feedback in the first major survey of public opinion in Myanmar since the National League for Democracy (NLD) officially took power more than a year ago, VOA reported on 23 August.
Carried out from March 9 to April 1 by Myanmar Survey Research under the auspices of the U.S.-based International Republican Institute (IRI), the poll sought answers from thousands of residents in 15 different regions and states.
According to the report the findings, released on August 22 in Yangon, were all the more revealing when compared to a similar IRI survey carried out under the administration of President Thein Sein in 2014, with the current government not managing as well by comparison.
For instance, 88 percent of respondents said the country was headed in the right direction in 2014, versus 75 percent in the new poll. Some 73 percent appraised the economic situation as “somewhat good” in 2014, versus 53 percent today. Asked if the current government was doing a “good job,” 58 percent said it was, but that number dipped from 69 percent three years ago.