Imran Khan is most popular leader in Pakistan, survey shows

Imran Khan, a former prime minister of Pakistan, is the most popular leader in his country, according to a survey.

Gallup Pakistan, which is affiliated to Gallup International Association and a research organisation located in Pakistan, published the survey recently.

The survey, titled Public Pulse Report, was conducted in the first 20 days of February 2023, with around 2,000 respondents covering urban and rural areas in all four provinces of Pakistan. It said that the error margin for such a survey was around 3 to4 per cent at 95 per cent confidence level.

“PTI Chairman Imran Khan is positively rated among 61 per cent of Pakistanis, whereas only 36 per cent have a good opinion about PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari,” says Dawn citing the survey.

According to the report, Imran received a positive rating from 61pc of the population while 37pc rated him negatively.

Further, 29pc from Punjab, 28pc from Sindh and 14pc from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa gave him a positive rating — the highest amongst the provinces for any politician.

On the other hand, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was rated negatively by 65pc of Pakistanis while 32pc gave him a positive rating. However, people from Punjab rated him more positively as compared to other provinces.

The data showed that almost three in five (59pc) gave his sibling Nawaz a negative rating while 36pc gave him a positive rating. Moreover, respondents from KP rated the PML-N supremo more negatively than people from other provinces.

As for Foreign Minister Bilawal, 36pc rated the PPP chairman positively while 57pc gave him a negative rating. Of all the provinces, he got most positive ratings from Sindh.

PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz, however, was rated negatively by 61pc while 34pc gave her a positive rating. “People from Punjab see her in a positive light as compared to other provinces,” the survey showed.

Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman received a negative rating by 57pc while only 31pc gave him a positive rating. He received the least negative ratings from citizens from KP.

Former president Asif Ali Zardari was rated negatively by 67pc while 27pc rated him positively.

 “Since 2022, Zardari has gained a more favorable opinion amongst the Public Pulse Report population. However, people from Punjab gave him the most negative ratings, followed by KP and then Sindh,” the survey said.