Summary She claimed the survey is by Gallup and not PILDAT
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) central spokeswoman Shireen Mazari on Wednesday termed PILDAT survey – showing rise in people’s belief in democracy – as ‘ridiculous’ and rejected it, Dunya News reported.
Reacting to the survey’s findings, Mazari said it is ridiculous for the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party to commission survey in its favour.
She claimed the survey is by Gallup and not PILDAT, and accused that Gallup’s head has good relations with PML-N. She further accused Gallup of prejudice against PTI.
Also Read: Democracy approval rate reaches 66% compared to 56% in 2014: PILDAT
In a report published by Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development And Transparency (PILDAT) on Monday showed signs of improving trust among the Pakistanis in democracy, democratic institutions and the government. Considerable resurgence was observed in the approval ratings of the quality of democracy in the country during the last one year as it improved to 66% in 2015 from only 56% last year.
According to the report published by PILDAT, the approval rating of the quality of democracy has improved. At the same time, the number of people believing in General Election (GE) 2013 to be rigged has also seen a big drop. The number of people believing the GE 2013 to be rigged in 2014 was 37% but the percentage has fallen to 30% this year.
The respondents rated the government’s performance in ensuring democratic oversight of the security sector at 51%.
Moreover, the trust displayed by the respondents in higher courts is also a positive sign. Surging to 63%, the approval ratings of the higher judiciary prove that the trust of the nation is improving in the legal and democratic institutions of the country. Besides, the approval ratings for media were also above 50%. However, the performance of the political parties, Election Commission and civil courts still remains a drawback for democracy in the country. It is interesting to note, however, that though the approval ratings of the political parties remain 36%, the approval rating of the National Assembly is 49%. It seems to imply that though the people are not happy about the political parties, their approval ratings about the National Assembly, which is a symbol of the political parties’ collective wisdom, is much higher.
The approval ratings of the army remained the highest, as always, at 75%.
