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Pakistan's Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan took the lead in a Gallup poll that showed national representation, according to the latest results released by the survey agency, The Friday Times reported on Tuesday. 

The Incumbent Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government was blamed by 60% of Pakistanis, rather than the PTI, for the current economic crisis and political chaos, according to the poll. 

PTI chairman Imran Khan was rated positively across the country in Gallup Pakistan's national representative survey, which was conducted in the first 20 days of February 2023 with a sample size of nearly 2,000 survey respondents. Many respondents appeared open to supporting a new political party led by technocrats and 'honest' politicians.

The public's opinion on who to blame for the current economic crisis was clear, with the majority (62%) blaming the PDM/PML-N government, while only 38% blamed the preceding PTI government. Widespread unemployment continues dampening public opinion over recent months

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As far as unemployment is concerned, 21% of respondents reported that someone in their household had lost their job in the past six months.

According to the survey, Pakistan's economy is in bad shape, with nearly one in every five Pakistanis reporting that they or someone in their household has lost their job since September.

Imran Khan also leads the Gallup poll in this category, as the PTI chairman received a positive rating from 61% of those polled, while 37% rated him negatively. 29% from Punjab, 28% from Sindh and 14% from KP gave Khan a positive rating; the highest amongst the provinces for any politician.

What were the negative ratings?

Nawaz Sharif received a negative rating from 59% of respondents and a positive rating from 36%. People in KP had a lower opinion of the senior Sharif than people in other provinces. 36% of the respondents rated foreign minister and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari positively, while 57% gave him a negative rating. However, out of all the provinces, he got the most positive ratings from Sindh.

PMLN senior vice president Maryam Nawaz received a negative rating from 61% of respondents, while 34% gave her a positive rating. People in Punjab view her much more positively than people in other provinces.

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Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was rated negatively by 65% of Pakistanis polled, while he was rated positively by 32%. People in Punjab rated him higher than people in other provinces.

Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman received a negative rating of 57% while only 31% gave him a positive rating. He received the least negative ratings from KP. Asif Ali Zardari was rated negatively by 67% while 27% rated him positively. Since 2022, Zardari has gained a more favorable opinion amongst the population. However, people from Punjab gave him the most negative ratings, followed by KP and then Sindh.

Respondents say Imran Khan did ‘the right thing’ by dissolving assemblies

57% of the respondents supported Imran Khan's decision to dissolve assemblies in Punjab. The survey states that 24% of surveyed PMLN supporters thought that Imran Khan’s decision to dissolve the assemblies and hold new elections is right.

The Gallup poll was conducted with approximately 2,000 respondents from all four provinces of Pakistan, including urban and rural areas. The error margin for Gallup Pakistan’s national representative survey is estimated at 3-4%, with statistical significance at the 95% confidence interval.

It is worth emphasizing that Imran Khan leads Gallup poll on almost all fronts against his major political opponents.

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