Approval Ratings: PM enjoys 75pc popularity, Imran 49pc

ISLAMABAD: Only 30 percent people in Pakistan believe that there was a massive rigging in the 2013 general elections and 75 percent believe in the leadership of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif equal to the armed forces that is 75 percent as well, revealed a survey conducted by the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (Pildat) on “Public Opinion on Quality of Democracy in Pakistan” after the federal government completed its two years in June 2015.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan as per this survey enjoys 49 percent approval rate, while approval rate of his party is 44 percent. According to the survey Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif enjoyed 69 percent popularity.

Despite massive campaigning and litigations to prove the 2013 elections as dubious, the survey report reveals another aspect of the public opinion that is quite opposed to the much publicized and advocated stance of the PTI and its chairman Imran Khan. Pildat report says that in June 2014, 37 percent people believed that the 2013 elections were rigged while now the number has reduced to 30 percent.

Pildat says that it took a sample of 3,231 citizens (respondents) from urban and rural areas of all the four provinces of Pakistan. The fieldwork for the report was done in face-to-face interviews in respondents’ homes. The sample is also based on a cross-section of various age, income, education and language groups of the population. And error margin is estimated to be approximately +3-5 percent at 95 percent confidence level.

Some of the other findings of Pildat show that 66 percent people approved ratings on overall quality of democracy at the end of federal government’s second year.51 percent of the respondents rated highly current government’s performance in ensuring ‘Democratic Oversight’ of Security Sector.

The PML-N garners highest approval rating, with 70 percent of the respondents rating the party’s competence highly whereas the approval ratings of PTI and PPP were recorded at 44 percent and 36 percent respectively. As per survey, Nawaz Sharif remains the most trusted leader with an approval rating of 75 percent while Imran garners an approval rating of 49 percent, while Asif Ali Zardari get 27 percent ratings.The armed forces are most trusted institution with an approval rating of 75 percent, while police are the least trusted with an approval rating of 32 percent.

This story was originally published in The News and may be accessed here