Majority of people believe mastermind behind Aug 7 protests: Nida Poll
More than half the respondents of a Nida Poll think there was a mastermind behind the protest by the Free Youth group on August 7, while more than 10 per cent were not interested in the event.
The poll by the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida) was conducted from August 9-11 and surveyed 1,318 people aged 18 years and over, across regions, education levels and occupations. The data was collected via telephone interviews, based on simple random sampling method.
When asked if there was someone behind the Free Youth rally on August 7:
- 51.74 per cent said they believed there was someone behind it;
- 36.04 per cent said they did not believe there was a mastermind;
- 12.22 per cent were indifferent/didn’t answer/don’t care.
When asked about their opinion on the protest by the Free Youth group on August 7:
- 26.18 per cent said they strongly agreed as it was a freedom of expression to claim rights and justice in a democratic way. They said the country would be able to move forward with improvement as the government has failed to do so, while some people said they disagreed with the use of violence and the protest should have adhered to the principle of peace;
- 19.19 per cent said they fairly agreed as the protest was a call for the government to realise the people’s problems, but disagreed on the use of violence in the rally;
- 16.77 per cent said they did not quite agree, as it caused violent chaos and there should have been better methods than holding the protest, while some said it could cause Covid-19 clusters;
- 35.43 per cent said they disagreed because it was inappropriate and caused a chaotic situation in the country, while some people said the protest would worsen the virus outbreak situation;
- 2.43 per cent were indifferent/didn’t answer/don’t care.
