83% countrymen favour direct election of President by citizens: Survey
The survey report also shows that 69% of people want the president to be a non-partisan individual, while 29% want a political party-affiliated head of state.
Highlights:
- 83% want president to be elected through direct votes of people
- 69% want president to be a non-partisan individual
- 63% strongly oppose politically affiliated student organisations
- 65% support holding local government elections before parliamentary elections
The majority of the countrymen - 82.65% - want the president, the official head of state, to be elected through the direct votes of the people, a recent survey by the Electoral Reform Commission has found.
Currently, the president is elected by members of parliament.
Only 13% of respondents want the existing system to continue, according to the draft report of the survey, conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics on behalf of the Electoral Reform Commission.
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The survey sought public opinion on a broad range of election-related issues, including electing the president, political party registration, various wings of political parties, local government and national elections.
Conducted in the period 20-22 December, the survey engaged over 46,000 participants nationwide, providing a comprehensive look into public sentiments on key electoral issues.
The report shows that 69% of people want the president to be a non-partisan individual, while 29% want a political party-affiliated head of state.
The survey also found that public opinion strongly opposes politically affiliated student organisations, with 63% of respondents expressing disapproval, about 31% supporting their continuation and 5% remaining undecided.
Moreover, 64.97% of respondents supported holding elections for all tiers of local government before the parliamentary elections under the current government's tenure, while nearly 29% opposed this approach.
Around 70% of respondents supported non-partisan local government elections, while 28% preferred elections conducted under party symbols.
When asked about the responsibility for preventing nomination trade in elections, 47.82% of respondents attributed it to political parties or their candidates, while 44.57% believed it was the responsibility of the public.
Nearly 47% of respondents supported appointing Election Commission officials as returning officers, while 44% favoured appointing deputy commissioners for the role.
Regarding parliamentary elections, 78% of respondents favoured re-elections in constituencies where voter turnout falls below 50%, while 17% opposed this idea.
Similarly, 78% supported holding new elections with fresh candidates if the "no vote" option wins, a recommendation included in the commission's proposals.
About 74% of respondents supported increasing the number of reserved seats for women in parliament to 100 and electing them through direct voting from designated constituencies, while 20% opposed this.
The survey also found that 50% opposed political parties having branches abroad, while 42% supported the practice. Meanwhile, 87% of respondents favoured conducting trial electronic voting for expatriates.
Based on the survey findings, public suggestions, discussions with various organisations and individuals and input from commission members, the Electoral Reform Commission formulated a set of recommendations.
These recommendations were formally submitted to Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on 15 January.
The commission made over a hundred recommendations on various issues, ranging from the election commission to the caretaker government, registration of political parties, online voting systems and others.
