A majority of people want to see a constitution totally rewritten by a committee whose members are elected by the people, according to a survey by National Institute of Development Administration, or Nida Poll.
The poll was conducted by telephone interviews on March 17-18 on 1,313 people aged 18 and over of various levels of education and occupations throughout the country to guage their opinions on a new constitution to replace the 2017 version currently in use.
The Constitutional Court said in a statement on Thursday that the constitution can be totally rewritten if eligible voters decide in a referendum a complete overhaul is needed, and another referendum must be held once the rewrite is completed.
Asked what their decision would be if a referendum were held today, 58.49% said they would vote "yes" for a totally rewritten constitution; 25.13% said they would vote "no"; 6.48% said they would not go to the polling station; 5.94% said they would go to the polling station but would not cast a vote; and 3.96% were uncertain.
Asked who should the authors should be if the constitution is completely rewritten -- with each respondent allowed to give more than one answer -- 59.86% said they should be members of a constitution drafting committee elected by the people throughout the country; 31.86% chose members of the House of Representatives; 17.75% said they should be resourceful persons selected from universities; 11.88% wanted senators for the job; 10.97% said they should be members of a constitution-drafting committee selected by the government; 9.75% said they should be members of a constitution-drafting committee selected by parliament; and 8.38% were uncertain or had no answer.
