Eighty-nine percent of people want a maximum limit of two terms for the prime minister position. At the same time, 87% support separating the roles of prime minister and party chief.
These findings were presented by Ekram Hossain, member of the national committee of Citizens for Good Governance (Shujan), at a launching event of public opinion survey held on Tuesday morning at Dhaka Reporters Unity in the capital. The event was chaired by Shujan central member Zillur Rahman.
The survey also revealed that 71% of participants support forming a bicameral legislature combining the National Parliament (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). Furthermore, 82% favour the deputy speaker being selected from the opposition party.
Regarding party finance, 91% of respondents want mandatory audits and that party financial transactions be conducted through banking channels. 80% agree that political parties should not have subsidiaries or foreign branches. 92% support disqualifying extortionists, corrupt individuals, and convicted persons from party membership.
Other constitutional and governance reform proposals and public opinions from the survey were also presented during the press conference.
Ekram Hossain stated that the representative dialogues included participants from women, men, third gender, and diverse religious and ethnic communities.
Shujan Secretary Badiul Alam Majumder commented, “The survey data proves that the public favours reforms and desires change.”
Professor Robaet Ferdous, member of Shujan’s executive committee, said, “Both parliamentary and judicial perspective (horizontal accountability) and civil society and media scrutiny (vertical accountability) need to be strengthened.”