BNP questions IRI survey showing Awami League’s rising popularity

The BNP has trashed a survey by US-based International Republican Institute (IRI) that showed the ruling Awami League is gaining the people’s trust, saying it did not show the true picture.

Most participants of the survey, conducted by Nielson-Bangladesh, said they felt the country was heading in the right direction.

BNP spokesperson Asaduzzaman Ripon dubbed the findings ‘misleading’ on Saturday.

“On one hand, they say the people want a caretaker government to supervise the polls and most people said they want a swift election,” he said. “But on the other hand, they say the government’s popularity is rising.

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“This proves the survey is contradictory.”

The survey, conducted in May and June this year, was published on Wednesday.

Ripon referred to a Nielson-Bangladesh survey three years ago whose result was different from this year’s.

“It conducted a survey in 2012 in the Daily Star and Prothom Alo and said the BNP would win if an election were held then,” he said, adding the results would not affect party activists.

“Our activists don’t suffer from frustration,” he told a media conference at the party’s Naya Paltan headquarters.

Majority of the participants supported the prime minister and her party but the BNP was trailing the ruling party in terms of popularity.

Ripon said he did not find any reason for the Awami League’s rising popularity, saying various indices only highlighted the government’s unpopularity.

“I don’t understand how a government and its head have gained popularity in this situation,” the BNP leader added.

He dared the government to check its popularity by calling a snap election.