A recent nationwide survey by Voice of America Bangla found that 61.1 per cent of Bangladeshi citizens wanted the next general election within a year. However, 65.9 per cent of the respondents prioritised completing all necessary reforms before the election.
ORG-Quest Research Limited conducted the survey among 1,000 respondents aged 18 and above across the country鈥檚 eight divisions, using random digit dialing.
While a majority of the respondents supported elections within a year, about 18.7 per cent preferred elections within two to three years.
According to a VOA Bangla report published on Saturday, urban and rural preferences were similar,聽 with slight differences in gender views as 65 per cent of women preferred elections within a year, compared with 57.3 per cent of men preferring the same.
Most respondents, around 66 per cent, believed that critical reforms should precede elections, focusing on the Election Commission (96.5 per cent), police (92.3 per cent), judiciary (95.3 per cent), economy (96.4 per cent), and constitution (92.5 per cent). Only 31.9 per cent supported elections after addressing urgent election-related reforms.
The survey assessed public views of the interim government led by Nobel laureate professor Muhammad Yunus that assumed power on August 8 following the downfall of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League regime.聽
A majority of the respondents, or 58.4 per cent, felt that the interim government was performing better, while 20.4 per cent rated its governance worse. Urban respondents and men viewed its performance more favourably than rural and female respondents.
About 63 pre cent of the respondents said security management improved under the interim government, while opinions on personal safety were split with 49.8 per cent feeling safer and 49.9 per cent perceiving no change or decline.
The VOA Bangla report also mentioned that the survey had a 3.1 per cent margin of error.
VOA Bangla has a plan to publish a series of reports containing the detailed findings of the survey, offering deeper insights into public opinions on governance, reforms, and elections in the country.