Information and Decision Support Centre: 40.5 pct of citizens want presidential elections first

Ahram Online , Thursday 2 Jan 2014

According to a survey conducted in late December, 82.8 percent of Egyptians will vote in favour of the new constitution; more want presidential elections first than otherwise

A survey for the Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC) has found that 82.8 percent of Egyptian citizens will vote 'Yes' for the draft constitution in the upcoming referendum to be held 14-15 January, and that 40.5 percent want presidential elections to be held before parliamentary elections.

IDSC, which provides data for the Egyptian cabinet, compared the results of its survey with a previous survey, conducted 21 December 2013, where 78.3 percent of the sample stated they would vote "Yes" for the draft constitution.

State news agency MENA reported that 72.4 percent of the sample will vote in the referendum, compared to 48 percent of the sample in a previous survey, conducted 28 November 2013, according to the new survey.

Sherif Badr, the IDSC's director, told MENA that the survey showed that 40.5 percent of Egyptians sampled prefer to have presidential elections before parliamentary elections, while 26.7 percent preferred the reverse, in accordance witho the roadmap adopted after the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi 3 July 2013.

According to IDSC, the sample encompassed 1,174 Egyptians interviewed by phone 28-30 December.