People praise federal govt’s Covid-19 handling, slam provinces

KARACHI: The Institute for Public Opinion Research and Pulse Consultant surveyed public opinion over the PTI-led federal government's handling of the national health emergency during the Covid-19 pandemic and found a sizeable chunk eliciting a positive outlook, while a significant number of respondents found the management of the crisis as totally lacking.

The sample size of those surveyed by both the companies, Institute for Public Opinion Research ( IPOR) and Pulse Consultant (PC), across the country was around 4,000. The pollsters asked different questions regarding national challenges, economic problems, budget and about the leader who can address the myriad issues confronting the country.

In the context of the Covid-19 management by the individual provinces, the respondents found KPK with 31pc disapproval ratings, Punjab has 39pc, Sindh given 41pc and Balochistan was dumped with 45pc unfavourable views. The opinion poll found 63 per cent people to be unhappy with the budget 2020-2021 to be largely inadequate and which did not offer any relief. Of the total respondents, 50 per cent cited unemployment as their top-most concern. According to one of the surveys, 28 per cent respondents expressed their confidence that PML-N's Shahbaz Sharif can steer the country out of the nagging issues.

According to the Pulse Consultant review, many as 47 per cent of the respondents expressed satisfaction with the federal government's performance, while 37 per cent thought it left much to be desired. The remaining 13 per cent gave a mixed opinion on the issue.

In the survey conducted by The Institute for Public Opinion Research, 51 per cent elicited a positive response of the federal government's handling, while 42 per cent had a negative viewpoint. As many as seven per cent gave no response to the question.

Regarding the question of the expanse of the viral infection and its negative impact on the economy, 93 per cent of respondents said the lockdowns increased unemployment, while only a small majority of seven per cent denied that kind of impact. To another query, 93 per cent felt their jobs were vulnerable to economic shocks, while seven per cent were confident of job security.

About seeking financial assistance during the Covid-19 lockdowns, 67 per cent of respondents confirmed seeking that kind of help, while only 33 per cent of respondents denied looking for any such help.

To another question about personal knowledge about someone who had contracted the infection, 46 per cent of the respondents confirmed knowing them personally, while 54 per cent denied any such knowledge.

To a question as to which political party offered the best help to the public, 28 per cent of respondents found PTI, 16 per cent found Jamaat-e-Islami, 10 per cent found PPP and similar 10 per cent found PML-N to be helpful during the lock down. Besides eight per cent found NGOs and private institutes to have helped the public in distress. A significant number of 44 per cent respondents found none to have offered any help to the people in distress.

In the survey conducted by The Institute for Public Opinion Research (IPOR) 51 per cent elicited a positive response of the federal government's handling, while 42 per cent had a negative viewpoint of the issue. As many as seven per cent gave no response to the question.

They also surveyed opinions about government’s tentative decision to open schools from Sept 15 and found 77 per cent public to have favoured the decision, 18 per cent expressed their reservations, and five per cent of respondents did not respond to the query.

To a similar question, if they would send their children to schools if they open in Sept, 80 per cent of the respondents evoked a positive response, while 16 persons refused to do so and four per cent did not offer any reply to the query.

Meanwhile, a major chunk of the population finds unemployment as the major economic issue and public concern followed by inflation and to a lesser degree corruption as issues dogging the country’s economy. This is the finding of a public perception survey conducted by pollsters Institute for Public Opinion Research.

Two companies the Institute for Public Opinion Research (IPOR) and Pulse Consultant (PC) conducted public surveys from across the country regarding the economic-related issues. The sample size of the survey was 4000 people.

The Pulse Consultant through the survey had sought to elicit public response about the major economic challenges found 50 per cent respondents citing unemployment as the top most concern, while 21 per cent found inflation and 17 per cent found corruption, four per cent identified coronavirus pandemic as the major crisis and only two per cent found general economic problems as the crisis area.

In relation to the previous surveys, rise of unemployment by 22 per cent has emerged as the major concern among the respondents and there was a 23 per cent reduction in the perception among the respondents considering inflation as the top most issue.

The elite described corruption as the biggest concern, while the middle class and the poor segments found inflation to be the issue of most serious concern.

According to the Institute for Public Opinion Research survey as to which political leader can address the nagging issues facing the country, 28 per cent respondents expressed confidence in Shahbaz Sharif, 23 per cent respondents perceived Imran Khan to be able to steer the country out of them, while 8 per cent respondents thought Bilawal Bhutto Zardari could deliver and only two per cent respondents attached their hopes with JUI-F Maulana Fazlur Rehman and another two per cent found Khadim Hussain Rizvi of the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan, while only one per cent expected Jamaat-e-Islami’s Amir Sirajul Haq to have the answer to the crises. As many as five per cent respondents cited several other preferences who could be answer to the country’s issues. According to the survey 11 per cent found none of the existing leaders to be capable of resolving the issues.

The Pulse Consultants sought public opinion about their expectations from the budget 2019-2020. A major chunk of 63 per cent respondents gave a negative opinion, while 15 per cent found it to be good and another 15per cent respondents found it to be a balanced budget in the given constraints.

About opposition’s allegation of budget being drafted in line with IMF directives, 40 per cent respondents agreed with the perception, 33per cent of those surveyed did not agree to the preposition.

Regarding any relief or concessions in the current budget, 12 per cent responded positively to the notion of public relief, while a majority of 85 per cent found the budget to have given a surge to inflation and three per cent of the respondents did not express any opinion over the query.

To another question regarding meeting daily expenses under the current economic conditions, 41 per cent said they adequately meet their expenses, while 59 per cent of the respondents found that to be not possible. Those who had found it difficult to meet their requirements were asked as to how they cope up with the constraints, 43 per cent answered they have drastically slashed their individual budgets. As many as 37 per cent respondents said they take loans to manage their expenses, while 19 per cent said they have contracted part time jobs to make both ends meet.

On the performance of the provincial governments, the Punjab government has been found to have topped most favourable rankings in performance among the respondents of a survey by the Pulse Consultants (PC), followed by KPK, Sindh and Balochistan. In yet another survey by the same pollster regarding the provincial rankings in view of their respective handling of the Covid-19 health emergency, Punjab has scored the highest, followed by Sindh, KPK and lastly Balochistan.

The Pulse Consultants (PC) conducted public survey eliciting response from 2000 people from across the country regarding the performance of the provincial governments particularly their management of the Covid-19 pandemic.

About Punjab Government’s performance as many as 26 per cent respondents expressed satisfaction with Chief Minister Usman Buzdar handling of the health crisis. But 54per cent found it to be severely lacking, nine per cent respondents gave a mixed viewpoint and 11 per cent did not respond to the query.

This is an improvement from a previous survey. In the last survey 21 per cent had responded in positive, while 61 per cent thought the Punjab government needed to pull its socks up. As much as 15 per cent had given a mixed reaction, while four per cent did not respond to the question. It appears the provincial government has managed to secure the approval ratings of a further five per cent chunk of the population.

About the performance of the PTI government in KPK led by Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, there is a five per cent increase in the approval ratings, taking it up in the current survey to 38 per cent. As much as 42 per cent respondents have found people of the KPK unhappy with the provincial government, which has also shown a five per cent drop in the negative perception.

Those among the respondents who gave a mixed viewpoint has also dropped to 12 per cent from 16 per cent in the last survey. The Murad Ali Shah-led Sindh government scored 25 per cent in their favourable ratings, improving by seven per cent from a low of 18 per cent in the last survey. Those not satisfied with the PPP government has dropped to 51 per cent from 66 per cent when surveyed last. Similarly those giving a mixed opinion about Sindh government’s performance have increased by a slim one per cent to 16 per cent.

In case of Chief Minister Jam Kamal led-Balochistan coalition government, its approval ratings have increased to 26 per cent from eight in the last survey.

Those who hold a negative viewpoint of the provincial the government have also dropped to 63 per cent from 66 per cent when surveyed last. Those giving mixed viewpoint have dropped to seven per cent from previous nine.

About the critical management of the Covid-19 emergency by the individual provinces, KPK has topped in public surveys by 66 per cent eliciting a satisfactory response. As many as 31 per cent population surveyed expressed a negative perception of the handling, while seven per cent respondents gave mixed opinion.

In case of Punjab, 48 per cent respondents gave a positive response of the government’s handling of the health crisis, while 39 per cent found it to be leaving much to be desired for and 9 per cent gave a mixed reaction.

According to the survey, Sindh scored 35 per cent approval ratings of the respondents for its management of the health emergency, while 41 per cent disapproved its policies. As many as 23 per cent respondents gave a mixed reaction to the issue.

In case of Balochistan government, 45 per cent of the respondents appeared satisfied, while 50 per cent disapproved their policies for confronting the lethal virus. As much as six per cent respondents gave a mixed viewpoint.

To a generic question regarding which province performed best to contain the Coronavirus infection, 29 per cent respondents found Punjab to have done the best, while 21 per cent consider Sindh to have done well, while 12 per cent found KPK to be effective and three per cent found Balochistan government to have done well. However a significant number of 27 per cent respondents found none of the provincial governments to have risen to the occasion, while nine per cent respondents ignored the query.