66.3 percent people satisfied with PM Tarique Rahman’s performance: Survey

A national public opinion survey has found that 66.3 percent of people in the country are satisfied with the performance of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. The finding emerged from the ‘Approval Rating Survey 2026’ conducted by the independent public opinion research organisation Doppler Research Bangladesh Limited.

The results of the survey, funded and supported by the private organisation Innovision Consulting, were released on Wednesday (August 19). Of those surveyed, 21.6 percent expressed dissatisfaction with the prime minister’s work, while 12.1 percent offered no opinion or declined to answer. Fieldwork for the survey was carried out this August; a total of 10,413 calls were made during the survey among a panel of adults interviewed face-to-face.

In its report titled ‘Approval Rating Survey 2026’, Doppler Research described the picture that emerged from the survey assessing public opinion on the government’s 180 days of work as one of “cautious optimism”. People are satisfied with the work of the prime minister and the government, but remain divided on the direction the country is taking and have yet to reach a conclusion on whether their daily lives have improved, the survey stated.

Satisfaction with the prime minister ranges between 61.7 and 70.3 percent across age, gender, education and income groups, and exceeds 62.3 percent in all eight divisions of the country, according to the survey. Satisfaction with the prime minister’s performance is higher than satisfaction with the government’s overall work. Even among supporters of other parties he enjoys acceptance—65.5 percent of Jamaat-e-Islami supporters, 65.8 percent of National Citizen Party (NCP) supporters and 52.5 percent of Awami League supporters said they were satisfied with the prime minister.

However, the survey found that overall assessment of the government’s work is lower than that of the prime minister. Some 54.5 percent rated the government’s performance as good and 32.9 percent as poor. While 48.6 percent of respondents believe the country is on the right track, 35.6 percent think it is on the wrong path and 15.8 percent offered no opinion on the matter.

The survey identified the electricity and fuel crisis and the rise in prices of essential commodities as the country’s most important problems. Some 59.5 percent of respondents cited electricity and fuel and 59.1 percent pointed to commodity prices as major issues, followed by law and order and employment. Dissatisfaction with the government’s handling of these matters was also evident in evaluations of its performance—89.4 percent of respondents rated electricity management as poor, 79.6 percent fuel and gas, and 69.1 percent commodity prices.

Despite concerns over the economic situation, the survey found some optimism about the future. Some 46.5 percent said their family’s condition had worsened compared with a year ago. However, 38.1 percent expect their family’s situation to improve in the next 12 months. In addition, 78.6 percent of respondents supported the family card, 70.7 percent the tax policy and 70 percent the implementation of the referendum verdict.

On the acceptability of opposition leaders, the survey found that 47.7 percent rated the work of the Jamaat-e-Islami ameer as good and 39.8 percent rated the work of the NCP’s founding convenor as good.

The survey also revealed comparatively greater concerns about security among women and minorities. Some 64.3 percent of women feel safe walking alone in their own neighbourhood after dusk, compared with 70.9 percent of men. While 95.2 percent of respondents feel safe practising their religion in public, the figure drops to 82 percent among Hindu respondents.