A majority of people want Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and political parties to clearly set an election date when they meet for talks, according to the result of an opinion survey by Suan Dusit Rajabhat University, or Suan Dusit Poll.
The poll was carried out on Feb 27-March 3 on 1,232 people across the country to gather their opinions on Gen Prayut's remarks made during his routine television programme on Feb 24 that he would invite political parties for talks about an election date and other matters.
Asked what they think of the meeting, 47.38% of the respondents said it would be a good beginning for the two sides to promote understanding; 28.22% said that with cooperation from all sides, progress towards solving the country's problems could be made; and 25.80% simply said they want an election to be held as soon as possible.
Asked what issues they want Gen Prayut and political parties to talk about, 52.25% want them to clearly set an election date; 34.93% want them to set clear rules and regulations for all to follow; 28.28% said they should be prepared to solve problems facing individual political parties; 21.62% said they should talk about how to prevent election fraud and vote-buying; and 19.08% want a ban on ppoliticalactivities to be lifted.
Asked whether they expect the talks to improve the country's situation, 53.65% believe the situation would remain unchanged; 42.37% think it would be improved with a clear election date; and 3.98% believe the country would still be plagued with political conflicts.
