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World wants Obama re-elected AGAIN: BBC survey

Last updated on: October 26, 2012 09:10 IST
United States President Barack Obama waves to supporters during a campaign rally in Denver, Colorado

The United States president might be locked in a neck and neck battle at home with his challenger Mitt Romney, but across the world, including in India, people still overwhelmingly want to see Barack Obama re-elected.

According to an international survey by BBC World Service, Obama is preferred to Romney in 20 of the 21 countries with Pakistan the only country where more people favoured the Republican for an election.

The poll comes just two weeks ahead of the US presidential election and while Americans appear to be sharply divided in their choice, the people across the world give a thumping endorsement to the incumbent.

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14 per cent in Pak want Romney elected

Last updated on: October 26, 2012 09:10 IST
US Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney greets audience members at a campaign stop at Jet Machine in Cincinnati

Overall, an average of 50 per cent would prefer to see Obama elected, compared to only 9 per cent who prefer Romney. The rest said they had no preference between the two.

A total of 21,797 people were polled for the survey conducted by GlobeScan/PIPA between July 3 and September 3. France, where 72 per cent of those surveyed favoured the president against 2 per cent for Romney, emerged as the most pro-Obama nation.

On the other hand, Pakistan where 14 per cent wanted to see Romney elected compared to 11 per cent for Obama was the only country polled that preferred the Republican.

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Obama's foreign policy is seen favourably by most countries

Last updated on: October 26, 2012 09:10 IST
US President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden (left), along with members of the national security team, receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House in this May 1, 2011 photograph

The poll indicates that Obama's foreign policy is seen favourably by most countries of the world over that of the previous Republican dispensations.

In case of Pakistan, Obama's tenure has coincided with one of the worst phases seen by US-Pak ties and the poll clearly reflects the situation.

Issues such as US drone strikes on Pakistani territory, a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation raid that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last year as well as the Abbottabad raid that killed Osama bin Laden have seen the ties between the two countries plunge to an all time low.

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36 per cent in India prefer Obama

Last updated on: October 26, 2012 09:10 IST
Obama greets students at a town hall meeting at St Xavier's college in Mumbai in this November 7, 2010 photograph

In India, 36 per cent of people polled preferred Obama against 12 per cent for Romney. Compared to four years ago, support for Obama went up in seven of the 15 countries, including India, that were polled this time as well as in 2008.

France, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Panama, Indonesia, India, and Turkey, saw a rise in support for Obama after his presidency while four countries -- Kenya, Mexico, Poland, and China saw a drop.

"While the presidential race in America looks like going down to the wire, global public opinion appears to be firmly behind Barack Obama's re-election -- even if two in five express no preference between the two candidates," said GlobeScan Director of Global Insights Sam Mountford.

The other countries that were heavily in Obama's favour were Australia (67 per cent), Canada (66 per cent), Nigeria (66 per cent), and the UK (65 per cent).

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Last updated on: October 26, 2012 09:10 IST

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