As many as 68% of the country's citizens want the next president to have no ties with any political party, while 83% want the head of the state to be elected directly by the people, according to a survey conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
Furthermore, 65% of the survey respondents demanded holding local elections before the next general elections, according to the survey conducted between December 20-22 last year for gauging people’s opinions about election process reforms.
The survey was conducted on 46,080 households across the country.
For reforming the country’s existing election process, the election reform commission submitted its proposals to Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus on Wednesday.
The proposals called for non-partisan president but avoided recommending direct presidential elections.
Instead, the president should be elected by lawmakers from a bicameral legislature, and elected public representatives.
Bd-Pratidin English/ARK
