BBS survey: 65pc people want local govt polls first  

As many as 65 per cent of people want local government elections before the next parliamentary polls, according to a recent survey by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). 

In contrast, different political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), are insisting that the national elections should be held earlier than the local government. According to them, local government polls might be a priority to the people since they have been deprived of citizen services in absence of elected representatives. But this perception is not realistic in the current perspective. 

However, the Jatiya Nagorik Committee, along with some other parties and organisations, took the side of holding the local government elections under the interim government, before the national polls. They believe the public perception reflected in the BBS survey is sensible.  

The BBS conducted the survey nationwide from 20 to 22 December, under an initiative by the election system reform commission to assess the public perception on reforms. 

In the survey, some 64.97 per cent of respondents supported holding local government elections first under the current interim government, while 29 per cent favored local government polls after the national elections. 

Nearly 70 per cent of participants preferred non-partisan local government elections, while 28 per cent supported elections with party symbols. The remaining respondents said they are not aware of the issue.  

The survey revealed that 68 per cent people want a non-partisan figure as the president, with nearly 29 per cent taking the side of having a political figure.

As many as 83 per cent of respondents suggested that the president should be elected directly by the people, while 13 per cent backed a presidential election by the parliament members. 

The statistics bureau has already published a draft of the survey report.

The local government elections have been a topic of discourse for quite some time. The BNP took a cautious stance after 8 January, when the chief adviser, Dr Yunus, told the European Investment Bank's (EIB) vice president, Nicola Beer, that the government is preparing for local government elections alongside the national polls.