New York  - While a large majority of people worldwide support democracy and political tolerance, they said in a public opinion poll published Tuesday that they are not completely free to speak their minds without fear of harassment or punishment.

"In no nation does a majority of people say they are completely free," said the World Public Opinion group, which carried out the survey in 24 countries on behalf of the Inter-Parliament Union (IPU).

A large number of respondents said they are not free in to voice unpopular views and opposition parties have little or no influence on government decisions.

IPU published the poll findings to coincide with the International Democracy Day celebrated by the UN every September 15.

"On average across all nations polled, just 24 per cent say people in their country are completely free to express unpopular views, 42 per cent say that they are somewhat free, and 30 per cent say they are not free," the poll said.

A major question put to those surveyed was how important it is for people to be free to express unpopular political views without fear of being harassed or punished. The replies included the United States (75 per cent in favour), Mexico (75 per cent), Nigeria (78 per cent), South Africa (78 per cent) and South Korea (77 per cent).

In many other countries, it was not viewed as that important: China (31 per cent), Russia (19 per cent), Ukraine (36 per cent), Indonesia (45 per cent) and India (54 per cent).  dpa