61pc want polls within a year, finds VOA survey

More than three out of every five (61.1 percent) Bangladeshis said they wanted elections within a year, while almost 66 percent said they wanted necessary reforms before the elections.
Most of the respondents who prioritised reforms before elections were lenient with the election deadline, but some of them said they still prefer elections within a year.
A recent nationwide survey by the Voice of America’s Bangla service was conducted across Bangladesh and included 1,000 voters during October 13-27.
While a majority prefer elections within a year, 31.9 percent favour elections only after urgent electoral reforms are implemented.
Meanwhile, 18.7 percent prefer elections within between two and three years, and 8.6 percent believe polls should happen within 18 months. A minority of 5.8 percent want the elections postponed for four years or more.
Interestingly, 4.6 percent respondents did not have a specific preference for an election deadline, while 1.1 percent declined to answer.
The survey highlighted slight variations in preferences between urban and rural populations, with 60.4 percent urban respondents and 61.4 percent rural participants supporting elections within a year. Gender differences were also evident, as 65 percent women preferred elections within a year compared to 57.3 percent men.
A vast majority (65.9 percent) of respondents believe all necessary reforms identified by the interim government should be completed before the election. Among these reforms, key areas of focus include election commission (for 96.5 percent), police (for 92.3 percent), judicial (for 95.3 percent), economic sector (for 96.4 percent), and constitutional reforms (for 92.5 percent).
Only 31.9 percent respondents supported elections after addressing urgent election-related reforms.
The survey assessed public perception of the Yunus-led interim government. It found that 58.4 percent believe the interim government was performing better than its predecessor, while 40.5 percent think it is performing similar or worse.
Among those critical of the incumbent government, 20.4 percent consider its governance worse and 20.1 percent think it is similar to the Awami League administration.
Urban residents (61.9 percent) and men (62 percent) were more likely to rate the interim government’s performance favourably than their rural counterparts (57.3 percent) and women (54.8 percent).
Regarding law and order, 63.2 percent said the interim government is managing security better than AL. However, opinions on personal safety were evenly divided with 49.8 percent saying they felt safer under the interim government. But 49.9 percent believed their safety had either declined or remained the same.