By Reem Tombokti.
Tripoli, 27 May 2013:
More than half of Libyans want to see a decentralised country, according to a constitutional survey . . .[restrict]sponsored by Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.
The results of the “Comprehensive National Survey on Libyans’ Opinions on the Constitution” were presented today at the Rixos Hotel. A representative total of 2,042 Libyans had been asked what they wanted to see in the new draft constitution. The idea of a decentralised Libya was backed by 57 percent of respondents.
Asked about the function Dar Al-Ifta should play, 61 percent of the participants said that it ought to be an advisory body, which gives its opinion only when asked.
There was enthusiastic backing, some 90 percent, for having the constitution ensure that women play an important role in building the new Libya.
The new tricolour flag was approved by 88 percent of respondents, the same proportion who also liked the new national anthem.
“It is our job to support such projects,” Mohamed Hasan Abu-Bakr, Minister of Higher Education, told the Libya Herald today. “This is the first time such a serious survey has probed the opinions of Libyan citizens. We hope to organise more surveys of this kind in the near future.” [/restrict]