Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said today that the decision to adopt the Proportional Representation (PR) electoral system or retain the existing method should be left to the political parties.

“The government should preferably speak less on the matter of the electoral system,” he said during a presentation of survey results conducted by the research organization Innovation at the Daily Star conference room in Dhaka.

Commenting on the survey findings, Shafiqul Alam said the statistics show strong public trust in the government. He said the high voter intent, noting that 95 percent of people want to vote, indicating the upcoming election is likely to be inclusive.

The survey, which included 10,413 respondents, found that 69.9 percent believe an interim government could organize a neutral election. 

About 56 percent of respondents are still unaware of the PR system. Preference for the PR method was nearly evenly split, with 21.8 percent in favor and 22.2 percent against.

MN/