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Pakistan

PML-Ns popularity up, PTIs dips: survey

Dunya News

Pakistan Tahrik-e-Insafs popularity has gone down, while PML-N has taken over the top position.

According to a survey conducted by the International Republican Institute (IRI), 28 per cent of the respondents agreed to vote for PML-N, closely followed by PTI at 24 per cent.The PPP took the third spot with 14 per cent votes whereas Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) polled 3 per cent.If this compared with the IRI February survey results, then the PML-N’s popularity has increased by 3.7 percent, while the PTI’s popularity has sharply dropped down by 22.6 percent and that of PPP by 12.5 percent.The survey posed the question that if the elections for the National Assembly were to be held next week, who were the respondents most likely to vote for.The IRI conducted the survey by taking the opinions of six thousand persons from different segments of the society about political parties and the public problems during July-August period.The replies to this very question if taken province-wise then PML-N is on the top in Punjab, as 43 percent people have said they would vote for PML-N, 27 percent for PTI and 7 percent for PPP.As against last February survey, here also PML-N support has surged, as their voters rose to 43 percent from 41 percent, while PTI’s came down to 27 percent from 33 percent and those of PPP dropped to 7 percent from 9 percent.About 79 percent people vowed to cast their votes in the next elections, 12 percent people don’t want to vote, while 6 percent are not yet fully ready.According to the survey 91 per cent of the people believed that Pakistan was heading in the wrong direction. Respondents termed electricity and inflation to be the two most important issues being faced by the country.