ISLAMABAD: As the election fever escalates in NA-120, at least 69 per cent people in the constituency favour the PML-N candidate Kulsoom Nawaz against 23 per cent voting for the PTI’s Yasmeen Rashid, says a recent pre-poll survey conducted by Pulse Consultant.
The PML-N as a party is almost three times more popular than the PTI as the survey results show that the PML-N gets the confidence of 62 per cent voters while the PTI is liked by 23 per cent voters of NA-120.
The pre-poll survey conducted by Pulse Consultant in NA-120 with a representative sample of 1,520 voters, selected from 152 locations from all 19 union councils of NA-120, indicates easy sailing for the ruling PML-N in the upcoming by-election.
The seat vacated by the disqualification of Muhammad Nawaz Sharif may be filled by his wife Kulsoom in Sept.17 polls.
The respondents exhibited an overall 62 per cent satisfaction with the performance of the federal government while 70 per cent stated their satisfaction with the provincial government in Punjab.
Twenty per cent respondents who intent to vote for the PTI appraise the federal government’s performance as satisfactory while the numbers increase to 32 per cent for Punjab government.
The difference increases as the female respondents anticipated the final winner with 72 per cent projecting Kulsoom compared to only 18 per cent favouring Yasmeen Rashid.
The corruption allegations levelled against Sharif are considered ill-founded by 55 per cent of the respondents with 60 per cent women considering Sharif as innocent in the case. Similarly, 59 per cent of the respondents considered his disqualification unjust.
Imran Khan’s possible disqualification is considered far from reality by majority of the respondents (55 per cent) especially males (61 per cent). Interestingly, females have a divided opinion (51 per cent support disqualification while 49 per cent oppose the idea).
Those surveyed stated a high percentage of voting in the upcoming by-poll. Ninety-four per cent of the respondents stated their willingness to cast vote in the upcoming election.
In the 2013 general elections, the PML-N secured 61 per cent of the votes followed by PTI’s 35 per cent. Comparatively, even after former prime minister’s disqualification by the Supreme Court, the PML-N still maintains its popularity among the voters.
The PML-N and PTI enjoy considerably loyal vote bank with 80 per cent and 88 per cent of the respondents expressing their intentions of a voting the same party as they did in 2013.
The PML-N is apparently a more preferred option among women (67 per cent) than men (57 per cent) compared to PTI (19 and 27 per cent), respectively. However, the PTI’s vote bank seems stronger in PP-140 than PP-139 which constitute NA-120 constituency with 28 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively.
In campaigning for a by-election seen as a test of support for ousted Sharif, the most visible figure is not on the ballot: Sharif’s daughter, Maryam, widely touted as his political heir-apparent.
This past weekend, crowds mobbed Maryam’s car and threw rose petals as she crisscrossed the eastern city of Lahore campaigning for her mother,
With Kulsoom in London for cancer surgery, accompanied by Sharif, 43-year-old Maryam has led the campaign with fiery speeches denouncing Sharif’s opponents and the Supreme Court.
Source : http://gulftoday.ae/portal/65509642-0901-4335-8a29-1caa9240a687.aspx
