A nationwide survey conducted by Institute for Public Opinion Research (IPOR) has shown divided opinion on the 100-day performance of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.
The survey is based on opinions of 2,041 respondents who were interviewed from November 27 to December 1, 2018, through Computer Assistant Telephonic Interviews.
In its performance report on the 100-days, the PTI claimed to have completed 18 deliverables while 16 were in progress. The party also stated that six key achievements over and above 100-days had been completed.
When asked about the PTI’s 100-day performance, 27 per cent of respondents said the PTI was able to complete its plan while 23 per cent said the party was completely unsuccessful. 30 per cent said it was too early to comment.
The findings differ from a Pulse Consultant survey in which 51 per cent of respondents had expressed satisfaction with the 100-day performance of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government, with 30 per cent expressing dissatisfaction.
In the IPOR survey, the overall satisfaction with the PTI government was 47 per cent, with most of the support coming from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where the level of satisfaction was 57 per cent. The PTI received the least support from Punjab where the party is in power with 43 per cent. The party received 50 per cent of support from the urban centre and male section of society.
When asked about the performance of the four provincial chief ministers, the highest rated chief minister was Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Murad Ali Shah from Sindh with 16 per cent followed by PTI’s Usman Buzdar from Punjab with 13 per cent. 10 per cent of respondents gave a favourable rating to PTI’s Mehmood Khan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and only 2 per cent for Jam Kamal in Balochistan who is from the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) a coalition partner of the PTI.
The findings differ from what was revealed in the Pulse Consultant survey which found KP Chief Minister Mehmood Khan with the highest satisfaction rating of 67 per cent, followed by Usman Buzdar in Punjab with 46%, Jam Kamal in Balochistan with 48 per cent and Sindh’s Murad Ali Shah with 41 per cent.
The IPOR survey also asked respondents to compare the performance of the previous and current chief ministers in Punjab, where the PTI took over the government from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). 43 per cent of respondents in the province said previous chief minister Shehbaz Sharif’s performance was better compared to Usman Buzdar who received 31 per cent support. At the national level, Shehbaz Sharif received a 34 per cent better rating than Buzdar, with only 26 per cent expressing satisfaction with the work of the present chief minister.
The Pulse Consultant survey had also found respondents more satisfied with the performance of Shehbaz Sharif’s government (58 per cent) in Punjab in the previous quarter of 2018 compared to 46 per cent stating they were satisfied with the 100-day performance of Usman Buzdar’s government in the province. Dissatisfaction also increased from 17 per cent during Sharif’s tenure to 33 per cent in Buzdar’s.
The survey also asked respondents about the really good steps done by the current PTI government so far. 17 per cent of respondents said fight against corruption which the party has made a central focus of its government. 11 per cent said construction of dam, for which the prime minister and chief justice have set up a fund, 10 per cent said operation against encroachments was a good step taken by the government followed by 6 per cent for police reforms and 3 per cent for the recently launched shelter home project.
Controlling the price hike was listed by 22 per cent as the biggest challenge being faced by the PTI-led government. 9 per cent each said eradicating poverty and ending employment were the biggest challenges. Only 7 per cent of respondents listed controlling corruption as the biggest challenge, with 5 per cent said it was dealing with the International Monetary Fund loan.
98 per cent of respondents in the Pulse Consultant survey had said that inflation had increased in the country during the PTI’s first 100-days, whereas 54 per cent opined that corruption was reduced in the country.
Disclaimer: Telephonic Survey was conducted from November 27 to December 1, 2018 – At 95% confidence level, for the sample of 2041 respondents – error margin ± 2.16%