Majority back non-elected PM 'for brief spell'

Of the 1,099 people surveyed from every region of the country, 59.4 per cent agreed with the Constitution Drafting Committee’s proposal to allow a non-elected PM during a crisis. 

By doing so they believed the country could become more peaceful but the tenure must be limited with a clear timeframe. 

However, 30 per cent disapproved of the proposal, insisting the PM must be an elected political party leader. 

Asked if they approved of the proposal to have all 200 senators from an indirect election, 69.2 per cent of respondents said senators should come from both direct and indirect elections with a suitable proportion from two groups, 18.3 per cent believed all 200 should come from an indirect election and 12.5 per cent said they were not sure.

The poll was entitled “The Pheu Thai Party’s popularity after former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra has been impeached over the rice-pledging scheme”.

It also found that the Democrat Party’s popularity continued to be higher than the Pheu Thai after Yingluck was impeached by the National Legislative Assembly, which resulted in the former PM being banned from politics for five years.

The Democrats’ job approval rating in this survey was 20.5 per cent while for Pheu Thai it was 18.5 per cent. 

In December, the pollster found that the Democrats’ job approval rating was 27.4 per cent compared to 26.9 per cent for Pheu Thai.

When Pheu Thai supporters were asked whether they would continue voting for the party if its leader were not a member of the Shinawatra family, 84.1 per cent said they would and 15.4 per cent were not sure.