Public split on 1997 charter: survey
Play
The public is about evenly split on the reinstatement of the 2007 constitution and this could flare up into a fresh round of political conflict, according to Abac Poll.
The public is about evenly split on the reinstatement of the 1997 constitution and this could flare up into a fresh round of political conflict, according to Abac Poll.
“Since the numbers of opponents and supporters of the [1997] constitution are almost equal, it could lead to national division,’’ Noppadon Kannikar, director of the pollster, said yesterday.
The results of its opinion poll showed that 38.4 per cent of 1,994 respondents disagree with reintroducing the 1997 charter but would not rally against its reinstatement, while 9.2 per cent disagree and would protest against it.
Of the respondents, 35.2 per cent agree with the idea but would not rally in support, while 17.2 per cent agree and would rally in support.
The survey of eligible voters found that 89.7 per cent believe in a democratic government, while the rest, 10.3 per cent, think democracy is not a good system.
About 91.5 per cent believe a democratic system was better than other governing systems, although there could be corruption and injustice.
The pollster reported that 72.2 per cent are convinced that the political parties in the government camp buy votes and 66.5 per cent believe that the main opposition party also offered money and supplies in return for votes during the election campaign.
Of the respondents, 43.2 per cent feel that vote-buying worsened from the 2008 election to this year’s election.
After the big robbery at the mansion of the permanent secretary of the Transport Ministry, 90 per cent believe more ill-gotten money was hidden in the homes of politicians and government officials, while 8.3 per cent think otherwise.
A Nida poll suggested that most people believe former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra could return home if his Thai passport is reissued. They also assume that government politicians got involved in Thaksin’s passport issuance procedures.
On what would happen if Thaksin staged a comeback, 68 per cent are afraid the country would be in turmoil, while 48.5 per cent look forward to him becoming the country’s leader again.
