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Nation headed in wrong direction

Political conflicts, hartals, price hike are top reasons, says Democracy International survey

Staff Correspondent
Sixty-nine percent of the respondents to a recent public opinion survey said Bangladesh was headed in the wrong direction and top three reasons for this were political conflicts, too many hartals and price hikes.
In the survey, conducted by Democracy International (DI) from fanuary 11 to 15, seven out of ten supporters of the BNP and the Awami League wanted their parties to compromise and engage in talks to end the political stalemate.
To study the post election environment, the Us-based DI picked 1,500 people, aged 18 and above, from 62 moujas/mahallas in 39 districts of seven divisions through random sampling.
Formation of the new government, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's speech and post-polls violence were the significant events to coincide with the fieldwork.
The findings were released at the DI's Dhaka office yesterday. Asked about the government formed through the January 5 election, 40 percent termed it not credible, 18 percent credible, 25 percent highly credible and 17 percent less credible.
Fifty-nine percent felt there should be another election within the next five years and 52pc said the BNP should immediately enter dialogue with the government and cease agitation.
Forty percent believed the government should complete its five-year tenure while 57 percent said it should initiate talks with the BNP and come to an agreement on new election arrangements.
In the opinion poll, 55 percent respondents said the January 5 election was a farce while 41 percent said the election was necessary because it was in line with the constitution.
Of the respondents, 77 percent did not cast votes in the January 5 election. The top reason was no election was held in their areas or there were uncontested candidates.
On the other hand, 40.7 percent of those interviewed in areas, where election was held, said they cast their vote. This corresponds with the official numbers released by the Election Commission, said a DI press release.
Asked whether the Election Commission proved itself neutral in this election, 34 percent replied in the positive while 45 percent said no. Also, 48 percent said fraud occurred everywhere during the election.
Had the election been fully participatory, 42.7 percent would have voted for Awami League while 35.1 pc for BNP.
While releasing the survey, David Dettman, chief of party for DI's democratic participation and reform in Bangladesh programme, said, "We sincerely hope to continue to offer objective data that clarifies the political situation. ”