More than 47 per cent people of the country see the possibility of Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairman Tarique Rahman to become the next prime minister.
Private organisation Innovision Consulting revealed the finding from the Round 3 of its People’s Election Pulse Survey at a ceremony at BDBL Building in the capital’s Karwan Bazar on Friday.
The survey data show that 47.6 per cent of respondents believe Tarique Rahman will be the future Bangladesh prime minister; 22.5 per cent think Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami amir Shafiqur Rahman will become prime minister; 2.7 per cent of those surveyed named Nahid Islam as the future prime minister.
However, 22.2 per cent of respondents said that they could not say who the future prime minister would be.
The survey was conducted between January 16 and 27 this year through phone interviews with 5,147 respondents across the country.
Regarding number votes each party or alliance is likely to fetch, respondents who expressed preference for the BNP-led alliance said that they were likely to secure 52.8 per cent of the vote; those preferred Jamaat-led alliance predicted 31 per cent votes for them; 13.2 per cent respondents did not express any preference, according to the findings.
The survey has also found that 74.2 per cent of voters have already decided which party they will vote for, although female voters remain significantly more undecided than their male counterparts.
Nearly 70 per cent of women respondents said that they had yet to make a final choice.
Alongside the 13th parliamentary elections, a referendum will be held on fundamental constitutional reforms in line with the July National Charter.
The findings also showed that nearly 60 per cent of respondents supported voting ‘yes’, while 22 per cent said they lacked knowledge about the referendum.
The survey report said that 32.9 per cent of former Awami League voters expressed the likelihood of voting for the BNP, while 13.2 per cent said that they might vote for Jamaat; 41.3 per cent said that they were still undecided.
The report also notes some voters have shifted their support from Jamaat or the National Citizen Party towards the BNP.
It further mentions that swing voters are also now choosing the BNP.
Among the respondents, 93.3 per cent said that they planned to vote in the next election, indicating a sharp rise in electoral engagement compared with earlier survey rounds.
The survey results were presented at the event by Innovision Consulting managing director Md Rubaiyath Sarwar, with analysts noting that voter sentiment could still shift as political developments might unfold with the Election Day nearing further.
It is tracking changes in voter attitudes as the election approaches amid political uncertainty and concerns over electoral violence.
Among respondents who had earlier said that they would not vote, 78.5 per cent now reported an intention to participate, while nearly 90 per cent of previously undecided respondents also expressed willingness to vote.
Voting intention remains comparatively lower among Gen Z voters, although overall participation among young voters is still high, the survey finds.
Public confidence in election administration also improved: about 72.3 per cent of respondents said that they believed that the government would be able to organise a fair election, an increase from the previous survey round.
Confidence in the impartiality of law enforcement and local administration rose to 74.4 per cent, while 82 per cent of respondents said they felt safe about casting their votes at polling centres.
