New poll: Zardari fares poorly; Kayani more popular

Only one in five Pakistanis view their president, Asif Ali Zardari, favourably while the country's army chief gets a more positive rating, according to a new opinion poll released on Thursday. The US-based Pew Research Center said of about 2,000 adults interviewed in Pakistan in April, only 20 percent saw Zardari positively, down from 64 percent in a poll two years ago. The margin of error was plus or minus three percentage points.
The poll also looked at Pakistanis views of the United States, with most of these findings released last month. It showed just 17 percent of Pakistanis had a favourable view of America despite massive efforts by the Obama administration to improve ties with its ally. The United States has given billions in aid to Islamabad to secure its help in fighting al Qaeda and the Taliban.
The poll of Pakistanis' views of their own officials showed that in contrast to Zardari's ratings, Pakistan's Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani had a 61 percent favourability score. Ninety-four percent of Pakistanis said the military had a good impact on their country.
Zardari's prime rival, ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif, had a 71 percent favourability rating, according to the poll, which also said few Pakistanis were happy with the overall state of their nation and 78 percent saw the economic situation as bad. However, there was also less concern that extremists could take control of their country and respondents did not feel as threatened by al Qaeda and the Taliban as in previous years.
Last year, 73 percent rated the Taliban a serious threat compared with 54 percent now and 38 percent saw al Qaeda as a serious problem versus 61 percent a year ago. However, the Taliban and al Qaeda remained unpopular among Pakistanis with 65 percent viewing the Taliban negatively and 53 percent feeling that way about al Qaeda. Pakistanis had mixed views about the extremist group Lashka-e-Taiba, which is blamed for the November 2008 attacks on Mumbai. Only 35 percent of respondents had an unfavourable view of LeT.
Pakistanis also had serious concerns about longtime rival India, with 53 percent of respondents seeing its neighbour as the biggest threat to Pakistan. The poll results released last month showed US President Barack Obama's favourability rating among Pakistanis was just eight percent. The US-led war in neighbouring Afghanistan was also widely opposed by Pakistanis with nearly two-thirds - 65 percent - wanting US and Nato troops to leave as soon as possible.