The poll is considered an initial performance tracker regarding governance by the federal government led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan Muslim League-N as well as performance of ‘democracy’ in its various forms and expressions.
Prime Minister Sharif’s policy of seeking harmony within the state institutions and provincial governments was given the highest rate of approval. His reaching out on the key foreign policy issues also received popular approval.
The Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) survey was released on the “International Day of Democracy” observed on September 15.
With the change of government on June 5, after the May 11 elections, around 44 per cent people were optimistic about its ability to address the current issues, the survey said.
Likewise, according to the public opinion given in the survey, the Punjab government got the best rating out of the four provincial governments while the Sindh government was given the poorest rating.
According to the survey, 46 per cent people gave good performance rating to the Nawaz Sharif government in dealing with the issue of terrorism, while 52 per cent gave it positive rating to cope with the electricity shortage.
About performance on key foreign policy issues, including relations with the United States, China and India, the government was given 57 per cent positive rating.
The positive performance rating achieved by the federal government on the inter-provincial harmony was 59 per cent. It also got 59 per cent positive rating on harmonious relations with the opposition parties in the parliament.
For creating harmony with the armed forces, the government achieved 58 per cent positive rating. Likewise, 54 per cent people gave positive performance rating to the PML-N government at centre in dealing with the problem of corruption.
