Benazir more popular than Nawaz in Pakistan: Survey

Former Primr Minister Benazir Bhutto is more popular than Nawaz Sharif in Pakistan, according to a survey.

Washington, Sep 13 : Former Primr Minister Benazir Bhutto is more popular than Nawaz Sharif in Pakistan, according to a survey.

The survey, released on Wednesday by a Washington-based anti-terrorism group 'Terror Free Tomorrow', shows that the PPP leader Bhutto has a 53 per cent approval rating, followed by Sharif at 47 per cent.

Most Pakistanis, when asked to describe their priorities chose an independent judiciary as their number one priority, followed by a free media, free elections, an improved economy, resolution of the Kashmir dispute and implementing Sharia law.

Seventy-five per cent of poll respondents said suicide bombings are rarely or never justified.

The survey points out that only 18 per cent of the respondents chose defeating al Qaeda, the Taliban and other jihadi groups when asked to choose the most important long-term goals for their government.

"We have conducted 23 polls all over the Muslim world and this is the most disturbing one we have conducted," Ken Ballen, the group's head told CNN.

The poll was conducted for the group by D3 Systems of Vienna, Virginia, and the Pakistan Institute for Public Opinion.

Interviews were conducted between August 18 and 29, face-to-face with 1,044 Pakistanis across 105 urban and rural sampling points in all four provinces across the nation. Households were randomly selected.

ANI