Most Nepal citizens for republic, Hindu state: Survey

Kathmandu: Majority of the Nepali citizens want the monarchy to be abolished and the Himalayan nation be declared a Hindu state, a survey has said.

In the survey conducted by the Nepal chapter of South Asia Democracy Study Group, about 59% of the respondents favoured a republic, which was far ahead of the 15% who favoured the idea in the 2004 survey.

“During the first survey in 2004, the idea of a republic was favoured by only 15% of respondents,” the South Asia Democracy Group noted in a summary of the new poll.

The survey conducted between March and April in over 41 parliamentary constituencies of 40 districts, showed that the vast majority of the respondents (68.8%) supported Nepal as a Hindu state, with only 39.2% backing the parliamentary proclamation of a secular state, the Himalayan Times Online said.

Presenting the findings of the survey yesterday, political analyst Krishna Hachhethu expressed optimism about the expansion and deepening of democracy in Nepal due to increased political awareness and participation in the political process.

Over two-thirds of the respondents said "democracy is preferable to any other kind of government". A majority of respondents (92%) believe that "democracy is suitable for nepal".

Though 59% of the respondents were unclear about the role of the constituent assembly, 62 per cent of them believed that assembly polls to frame a new constitution can be held in a fair and free manner.

Majority of the people were upbeat over the peace process, with 67% believing that the Maoists would not return to war.

Bureau Report
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