ISLAMABAD, Aug 13: About 54.5 per cent urban Pakistanis believe that military should have no role in politics and 65.2 per cent want Gen Pervez Musharraf to quit the office of the president, reveal findings of a survey.

The survey, sponsored by DAWN NEWS, daily Dawn, CNN-IBN and Indian Express, was conducted by AC Neilsen in 10 major cities of Pakistan, shows that people are no more interested in elections.

About 36.6 per cent of the respondents said they would not caste their votes for any political party or candidate if the elections were held tomorrow.

The findings, however, prove that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is ahead of other parties with 13.4 per cent saying that they will vote for the PML-N, followed by 12.9 per cent for the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) of Benazir Bhutto.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement is placed at No 3 with eight per cent.

As many as 4.7 per cent urban Pakistanis say they will vote for the ruling PML while Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), an alliance of six religious parties, has support of only 0.7 per cent in the 10 cities.

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif also tops the ranking of those leaders having trust of the people. As many as 15.8 per cent of the respondents have full trust in Nawaz Sharif, followed by 15.6 per cent in Gen Pervez Musharraf, 14.8 per cent in Benazir Bhutto and only 7.1 per cent in Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

The overall popularity graph of Gen Musharraf is at the downside with 29.7 per cent respondents saying they do not trust him at all, followed by 22.7 per cent having no trust at all in Ms Bhutto, 22.6 per cent having no trust in Shaukat Aziz and 17.6 per cent distrusting Nawaz Sharif.

The respondents were also asked questions relating to the performance of the Musharraf government in different areas. A majority of 36.2 per cent “fully disagree” that corruption has decreased during Gen Musharraf’s rule. The response of only 14.1 per cent agreed with the statement.Similarly, 29.9 per cent of the respondents “fully disagree” that Islamic militants have been kept under control by the Musharraf regime as against only 8.9 per cent who “fully agree” that the regime has controlled the militants.

And 38.4 per cent “fully agree” or “somewhat agree” that the image of Pakistan in the world has improved while 52.3 per cent believes that it is not the case.

Opinion

Editorial

Border clashes
19 May, 2024

Border clashes

THE Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier has witnessed another series of flare-ups, this time in the Kurram tribal district...
Penalising the dutiful
19 May, 2024

Penalising the dutiful

DOES the government feel no remorse in burdening honest citizens with the cost of its own ineptitude? With the ...
Students in Kyrgyzstan
Updated 19 May, 2024

Students in Kyrgyzstan

The govt ought to take a direct approach comprising convincing communication with the students and Kyrgyz authorities.
Ominous demands
Updated 18 May, 2024

Ominous demands

The federal government needs to boost its revenues to reduce future borrowing and pay back its existing debt.
Property leaks
18 May, 2024

Property leaks

THE leaked Dubai property data reported on by media organisations around the world earlier this week seems to have...
Heat warnings
18 May, 2024

Heat warnings

STARTING next week, the country must brace for brutal heatwaves. The NDMA warns of severe conditions with...