WASHINGTON: President Gen Pervez Musharraf is an obvious and ideal choice for leadership of Pakistan in comparison to Benazir Bhutto and Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, says International Public Opinion Polls (IPOP) survey report.
The IPOP survey report, focusing primarily on exploring leadership issues for rescuing Pakistan, suggested that Pakistani nation suffers from assertively dangerous and grave political crises that also endanger the national interest which has a significant bearing and immense pertinence.
The IPOP, a research organisation based in the US, recently published a opinion based report on a survey conducted from 1,572 people in Pakistan. The target population was educated and relatively-less educated populace of Pakistan. The purpose of the survey was to explore suitable and substantive political leadership qualities and attributes from within Pakistans youth, for a nation beleaguered by terrorist attacks, suicide bombings and religious fanaticism.
The opinion based survey was conducted in 62 cities of Pakistan, 17 being major and 45 being comparatively lesser developed cities of Pakistan. A target population of 1,572 educated people was siphoned through the adult franchise basis, of which 1,230 were men and 549 were women.
The survey was conducted from Aug 15 till Sept 20. The sample questionnaire had nine questions which were designed to gauge the view of the interviewed hailing from 62 large and small cities of Pakistan.
This opinion based survey was levelled on the adult franchise basis with men and women 20 years of age and older. The surveying team reported that since the survey was meant for the educated lot, those who could write their names and read a newspaper were also included in it and extreme care was adopted in collating the results.
Due to this caution in collation of information, margin of error was reduced to a mere four percentile which is internationally recognised yardstick for researchers. The survey contained internet-based research, one on the interviews, telephonic conversations and correspondence through electronic mail.
A total of 208 people from Karachi, 249 from Lahore, 302 from Islamabad, 126 from Peshawar, 46 from Quetta, 139 from Hyderabad, seven from Rawalpindi, 65 from Multan, 64 from Gujarat, 44 from Muzaffarabad, 33 from Okara, 91 from Faisalabad, 20 from Jacobabad, 21 from Mirpurkhas, 22 from Gilgit, three from Rahim Yar Khan, eight from Nawabshah and 145 from other cities of Pakistan expressed their opinion and shared their
The first question put to the interviewed was, What is the greatest hurdle in achieving political stability in, Pakistan? 45 per cent said corruption by politicians, 30 per cent blamed dynastical politics and 25 per cent attributed politics of agitation as being the greatest hurdle to achieving political stability in Pakistan.
The second question was, Should politicians owning property abroad declare their assets before general elections? 43 per cent agreed, 33 per cent said no and 24 per cent said they had no idea.
The third question asked was, Under whose leadership would Pakistan remain the safest? 41 per cent said under President Gen Pervez Musharraf, 33 named Benazir Bhutto and 26 per cent said under Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan would be the safest choice to run the country.
The forth question asked was, In case of a deal with PPP, what issues are likely to shadow Pakistans politics? 27 per cent said provincial autonomy, 17 per cent said foreign policy, 16 per cent said the economy, 14 per cent said timely provision of justice, 14 per cent pointed out corruption cases, and 12 per cent identified getting elected prime minister for a third term as issues that may overshadow politics of Pakistan.
The fifth question was, In your opinion, what abilities and qualities must national leader posses? 49 per cent were of the opinion that a national leader must possess integrity and should be honest as well. Twenty-seven per cent said a national leader must be equipped with the ability to successfully guard national interest and 24 per cent stated that patience and tolerance are qualities and attributes, which determine a national leader in possession of conviction and resolve.
Sixth question then asked was, Who in your opinion possessed such abilities? 32 per cent named Benazir Bhutto, 26 per cent named Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and 42 per cent named President Gen Pervez Musharraf as the ideal candidate to lead Pakistan towards prosperity and development.The seventh question was, What in your opinion is the greatest cause of failure of democracy in Pakistan? 43 per cent said according to opinion makers, the despotic attitude of political leaders, 23 per cent said that lack of democratic trend in political leadership, 18 per cent held responsible the growing role of money inpolitics, and 16 per cent pointed out dynastical politics as contributing to failure of democracy in Pakistan.
The eighth question was, Why is Pakistans image in the international comity of nations so bad? 48 per cent believed that politics of agitation was the root cause of this, 24 per cent considered corruptions by political leaders as the cause of this, 17 per cent stated that politicians hypocritical actions, and 11 per cent considered terrorism leading to negative portrayal of Pakistan in the comity of international nations.
The last question was, Which political leader in your opinion can do away with the negative portrayal of Pakistan in the international community? 33 per cent named Benazir Bhutto, 27 per cent said Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and 40 per cent believed President Gen Pervez Musharraf could help undo the negative and unhealthy image of Pakistan in the international community.
