A large section of people is satisfied with the reform activities of the interim government formed after the July mass uprising. At the same time, a large section of people is dissatisfied. A segment said they are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.
This opinion has emerged in the “National Public Opinion Survey-2025 on Important Socio-Political Issues,” conducted at the initiative of Prothom Alo.
The survey was conducted for Prothom Alo by the non-governmental research organisation Keymakers Consulting Limited.
One question in the survey asked, “How satisfied are you with the reform activities of the interim government following the July mass uprising?”
In response, 8.6 per cent of respondents said they were extremely satisfied. 32.8 per cent said they were somewhat satisfied. It is seen that 41.4 per cent of people are satisfied with the reforms.
On the other hand, 21.2 per cent of people said they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. 25.1 per cent of people said they were somewhat dissatisfied. And 11.7 per cent of people said they were extremely dissatisfied. As a result, the rate of people who are dissatisfied is 36.8 per cent.
Dissatisfaction is higher among Dhaka residents
The interim government led by professor Muhammad Yunus was formed on 8 August last year, three days after the fall of the Awami League government on 5 August during the July mass uprising.
After taking charge, chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus said in an address to the nation on 11 September last year that they want reforms. They want to start a new journey as a nation through reforms. He then announced the decision to form six reform commissions as an initial step.
The six sectors for which commissions were formed in the first phase are: the electoral system, police, judiciary, anti-corruption, public administration, and constitutional reform.
Subsequently, five more commissions were formed in the second phase: media, health, labour, women's affairs, and local government system.
All commissions have already submitted their reports. However, the implementation situation is far behind. The topics of the first six reform commissions were included in the discussion of the National Consensus Commission; the remaining five were not discussed there.
Based on long discussions with political parties, the “July National Charter” was prepared with 84 proposals from these six commissions. Of these, 48 proposals are related to the constitution. Various parties, including the BNP, have objections to several of these proposals. On 28 October last year, the National Consensus Commission gave the government two alternative recommendations for implementing the charter. There, the decision regarding the timing of the referendum was left to the government. Finally, the decision was made—the upcoming national parliamentary election and the referendum for the implementation of the July National Charter will be held on the same day.
But the reforms that were possible to carry out by executive order have also not been done or are not being done properly. In such a context, people's opinions on reforms have emerged in the survey conducted at the initiative of Prothom Alo.
How much satisfaction with which reform
The survey data says that more than half the people believe that the interim government has not been successful in reforming the police, judiciary, administration, and financial sector. The question asked on this matter was, “How successful or unsuccessful do you think the interim government has been in various reforms?”
In response, more than half the respondents said that the interim government was not successful in reforms in the police (58 per cent), judiciary (56 per cent), administration (56 per cent), financial sector (52 per cent), and information and communication sector (50.4 per cent). That is, the desired reforms have not progressed in these areas.
On the other hand, 47.3 per cent believe the government has been successful in reforming the election commission and electoral system, 46.8 per cent in agriculture, 45.2 per cent in industry and investment, 43.5 per cent in sports and culture, 41.7 per cent in power and energy, 37.1 per cent in local government, and 34.3 per cent in foreign policy reforms. The rest believe it was not successful or are not sure about the matter.
Whose responsibility is higher?
In response to the question—Whose or whose responsibility do you think is higher for the interim government's reform activities not being more successful—almost half of the respondents (47.5 per cent) blamed the interim government itself for the failure in reforms. Furthermore, more than one-third believe that the associates of the deposed Awami League government obstructed the reforms.
In addition, 22 per cent of the survey participants expressed the opinion that the National Citizen Party (NCP), 20.7 per cent the BNP, and 7 per cent Jamaat-e-Islami are responsible for the obstruction of reforms.
In the survey conducted at the initiative of Prothom Alo, the opinions of 1,342 adults (18-55 years) from 5 cities and 5 rural or semi-urban areas of the country were taken. The people who participated in the survey belong to various income groups, classes, and professions. The survey data was collected from 21 to 28 October last year.
The survey organisation said it is an opinion survey. It is a representative survey of the country but does not specifically represent any electoral constituency. The survey sample highlights people who can read online or print newspapers and are likely to vote in the next election. The reliability level (confidence level) of the survey results is 99 per cent.