KARACHI: The Pakistani population has given its stamp of approval to the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments, but appears largely dissatisfied with the performance of the Sindh and Balochistan provincial governments.
However, public opinion appears to be split over whether the performance of the federal government has been satisfactory or not. 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 at 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.
Majority of Pakistanis content with Punjab government
A large majority of Pakistanis said they were satisfied with the performance of the PML-N led provincial government in Punjab.
According to results of the Gallup Pakistan survey, 49% of the respondents from across the country said they were satisfied with the Punjab government. This figure increased even further with Punjab residents, 61% of which said they were satisfied with their provincial government's performance.
The numbers were backed by results of the Pulse Consultant survey, which showed that 41% respondents from across Pakistan and 49% from Punjab approve of the performance of the Punjab provincial administration.
PTI government gets stamp of approval from KP residents
A majority of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa residents said they were content with the performance of their provincial government. However, a large number of Pakistanis elsewhere appeared to disagree over how well the PTI administration has performed in the last four and a half years.
From across Pakistan, 31% of respondents said they were satisfied, while 35% said they were dissatisfied with the KP provincial government, according to the Gallup Pakistan survey.
However, half of the respondents (50%) living in KP were either completely or somewhat satisfied with the provincial government's performance. 19% were dissatisfied with the provincial government.
According to results of the Pulse Consultant poll, 33% respondents from across Pakistan and a whopping 75% from KP approved of the PTI-led provincial government's performance.
Most Sindh residents unhappy with PPP government
Results from the Gallup Pakistan survey showed that a large majority of Pakistanis are dissatisfied with the performance of the Pakistan People Party (PPP) led provincial government in Sindh.
46% of the respondents from across the country said they were dissatisfied with the Sindh provincial government, while only 22% said they were satisfied.
However, looking at respondents residing in Sindh, almost half (49%) said they were dissatisfied with the provincial government's performance. Only 35% of Sindh-based respondents said they were satisfied.
The Pulse Consultant survey showed similar results, with 35% respondents from across Pakistan and 45% from Sindh saying they were dissatisfied with the Sindh government's performance. 21% respondents from across Pakistan and 30% from Sindh said they were satisfied with the provincial government.
Interestingly, 43% of Sindhi-speaking respondents said they were unhappy with the performance of the PPP-led provincial government.
Large majority discontent with Balochistan government
Similar to Sindh, a large majority of Pakistanis appeared to be unhappy with the performance of the Balochistan government.
According to the Gallup Pakistan survey, only 13% of Balochistan residents said they were satisfied, while 66% said they were dissatisfied with the performance of the provincial government.
From across Pakistan, around 39% respondents said they were unhappy, while 17% said they were satisfied with the Balochistan provincial government's performance.
The Pulse Consultant survey showed a similar result, with only 16% respondents from across Pakistan saying they were satisfied and 28% said they were dissatisfied with the Balochistan government.
However, 57% of the Balochistan residents interviewed by Pulse Consultant said they were satisfied and 31% were unhappy with the Balochistan provincial government's performance.
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.
