70pc want Musharraf to quit: poll (The Nation News)
PPP most popular party: Osama support fading
ISLAMABAD (Agencies) - Sympathy for Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and
the Taliban has dropped sharply in Pakistan amid a wave of deadly
violence, according to the results of a recent opinion poll, reports
USA Today.
The survey also identified Benazir Bhutto's PPP as the country's most
popular ahead of elections, and said most Pakistanis want President
Pervez Musharraf to quit.
The poll, conducted last month for the US-based Terror Free Tomorrow
organisation, suggests Pakistanis are looking to peaceful opposition
groups after months of political turmoil and a wave of suicide attacks.
According to the poll results, only 24 per cent of Pakistanis approved
of Osama bin Laden when the survey was conducted last month, compared
with 46 per cent during a similar survey in August.
Backing for Al-Qaeda, whose senior leaders are believed to be hiding
along the Pakistani-Afghan border, fell to 18 per cent from 33 per cent.
Support for the Taliban, whose Pakistani offshoots have seized control
of much of the lawless border area and have been engaged in a growing
war against security forces, dropped by half to 19 per cent from 38 per
cent, the results said.
Also, in a sharp rebuke to Musharraf - who seized power in a 1999 coup
and whose standing has slumped since he tried to fire country's chief
justice last March - 70 per cent of voters think he should quit
immediately.
Terror Free Tomorrow is a bipartisan group that seeks to reduce support for international terrorism. Its advisory board includes likely Republican presidential nominee
Senator John McCain and Lee Hamilton, a former Democratic Congressman
who helped lead a study of White House Iraq policy last year. The
group's president, Ken Ballen, says the advisory board plays no role in
individual polls.
The survey, based on interviews with 1,157 people across Pakistan from
Jan 19-29, had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Only one per cent of Pakistani voters would cast their ballots in
favour of Al-Qaeda if it was running in parliamentary elections, the
survey results said, adding that the Taliban would get three per cent.
In contrast the moderate and secular PPP polled 36.7 per cent. PML-N
scored 25.3 per cent, pushing the pro-Musharraf PML-Q into third place
with just 12 per cent.
Despite Musharraf's counter-terror alliance with Washington and calls
for Pakistan to plot a course of "˜enlightened moderation', Pakistanis
remain distrustful of the president and his authorities.
The poll found that 58 per cent of respondent voters suspected
Musharraf, allied politicians or government agencies were responsible
for Bhutto's death. Only seven per cent thought Al-Qaeda or the Taliban
were behind her slaying.
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