KARACHI: The opinion of the Pakistani public appears to be split over whether the performance of the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) federal government has been satisfactory or not in the last four and a half years.

This was revealed in the results of the nationwide Jang-Geo-News poll conducted last month in collaboration with Gallup Pakistan and Pulse Consultant.

Of the respondents interviewed in the Gallup Pakistan survey, 42% expressed satisfaction over the performance of the federal government led by the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N).

30% of the respondents said they were dissatisfied with the federal government's performance, while another 25% expressed neither satisfaction nor dissatisfaction.

The highest percentage of respondents satisfied with the federal government were from Punjab (48%) followed by Sindh (35%). 29% from Balochistan, and 28% respondents from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa expressed either complete or partial satisfaction with the federal government's performance.

The Pulse Consultant survey showed different results, with 34% of respondents saying they were satisfied with the federal government while 38% said they were dissatisfied with the performance of the federal government.

39% from Punjab, 22% from Sindh, 51% from Balochistan, and 25% respondents from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said they were satisfied with the federal government's performance.

Similarly, 46% of respondents from urban areas and 39% from rural areas were satisfied with the performance of the federal government.

The results of the nationwide opinion surveys are significant, giving an early insight into voters' perceptions and preferences given the general elections in Pakistan scheduled for 2018.

Satisfaction greater in higher income groups

Interestingly, data from the survey appeared to show a correlation between satisfaction with government performance and socio-economic class, with higher income groups showing greater satisfaction and respondents from lower income groups expressing dissatisfaction.

Of the respondents with household incomes greater than Rs30,000, almost half (49%) said they were satisfied with the performance of the federal government. This number appeared to decline with decrease in monthly income, with 46% of the middle income group (Rs15,000 to Rs30,000) saying they were satisfied, and 30% of the low income group (under Rs15,000) expressing satisfaction.

At the same time, 28% of respondents from the high income group said they were dissatisfied with the federal government's performance. 29% and 32% of the middle and low income groups respectively said they were dissatisfied with the government's performance.

Note from Editor/Disclaimer: The Jang-Geo-News poll is carried out regularly on a national level according to internationally recognised principles of scientific polling. Large media houses across the world carry out these surveys to assess the perception and opinions of the public.

In order to make it more balanced and transparent, the Jang-Geo-News poll was carried out in collaboration with two different research agencies—Gallup Pakistan, one of the renowned survey companies in Pakistan, and Pulse Consultant, one of the fastest growing research agencies in the country.

The results represent public opinion computed on the basis of views expressed by anonymous respondents selected randomly and interviewed face-to-face. Such surveys contain a margin of error, and should not be taken as a basis for casting votes.

The combined sample size of the study was more than 6,000 households. Gallup Pakistan carried out the survey from October 10 to November 1 using an error margin of +-2 to 3% at 95% confidence level, while the parallel research by Pulse Consultant was conducted from Oct 8 to Oct 25 with a margin of error of 1.62% at 95% confidence level.