Imran most popular leader in Pakistan: Gallup survey

Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has emerged as the most popular leader in the country as 61% of Pakistanis gave him a positive rating, according to a nationwide survey conducted by Gallup Pakistan.

According to the survey report titled Public Pulse Report, the second position was shared by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chairman and foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto with 36% Pakistanis having a good opinion about both of them.

The survey 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.

“Imran Khan seems to be the most positively rated politician while opinion regarding Asif Ali Zardari is least positive,” read the report. It stated that Imran Khan received a positive rating from 61% of the population while 37% rated him negatively.

“29% from Punjab, 28% from Sindh and 14% from K-P gave him a positive rating, the highest amongst the provinces for any politician.”

Also read: More than half of Pakistanis happy with PM Imran’s performance: poll

Almost three in five (59%) gave Nawaz Sharif a negative rating while 36% gave him a positive rating, with people from K-P rating him more negatively than people from other provinces, revealed the Gallup survey report.

PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto was rated positively by 36% respondents, while 57% gave him a negative rating. However, out of all the provinces, Bilawal got most of the positive ratings from Sindh.

PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz was rated negatively by 61% while 34% gave her a positive rating. People from Punjab see her in a positive light as compared to other provinces.

The survey report said 65% Pakistanis rated PM Shehbaz Sharif negatively while 32% gave him a positive rating. People from Punjab rated him more positively as compared to other provinces.

JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman received a negative rating by 57% while only 31% gave him a positive rating. He received the least negative ratings from K-P province.

Former president and PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari was rated negatively by 67% while 27% rated him positively. However, people from Punjab gave him the most negative ratings, followed by K-P and then Sindh provinces.