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Nawaz Sharif most popular leader in Punjab: survey

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  • Nawaz’s popularity has gone up to 52% in December 2023.
  • Gallup Pakistan survey lays out political mood of the masses.
  • PML-N gaining its lost ground, especially in Punjab, survey mentions.

ISLAMABAD: Nawaz Sharif has emerged as the most popular leader in Punjab, according to a newly released survey, whereas he is fast catching up with Imran Khan at the national level as the former’s graph goes up and the latter’s is going down after incarceration.

A survey released by Gallup Pakistan on Thursday laid out the political mood of the masses that shows Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is gaining its lost ground, especially in Punjab, the participants were also asked about their favourite personalities. One survey was conducted in June and another in December last year. The mood swing in this span shows Nawaz Sharif making advances since his return to Pakistan.

At the national level, Nawaz has gone up from 36% popularity (in June 2023) to 52% (in December 2023). Imran in the corresponding period has gone down from 60% to 57% which suggests that public mood is swinging towards the former keeping in view the perception that he will be able to form the next government whereas the latter stands no chance in the near future. So going by the above, it appears that though Khan is still the most popular leader at the national level, it is on decline whereas Nawaz heads upward in terms of approval rate.

If their standing is judged at Punjab level which will be the key determinant in deciding the future prime minister, Nawaz has scored higher than Imran. The only survey conducted in this regard at the provincial level was in December which shows Nawaz’ popularity at 60% and Imran’s at 53%. Third most popular leader in Punjab is Jamaat-e-Islami’s emir, Sirajul Haq (36%). Bilawal Bhutto follows him with 34% popularity. Saad Rizvi of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan grabbed fifth slot by scoring 31% approval. Maulana Fazlul Rehman (27%) and Jahangir Tareen (21%) comes after him.

A national-level survey of the leaders’ personal approval rate indicates that almost all the leaders surveyed have lost popularity except Nawaz Sharif, Maulana Fazlul Rehman and Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui. As mentioned above, Imran’s rating decreased by 3%. Similarly, Saad Rizvi went down 10% (from 38% to 28%) in the duration of seven months. Bilawal lost 1% from 36% to 35%. Tareen’s rating decreased by 3%.

Overall mood suggests that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and PML-N are in neck-on-neck competition in Punjab if the elections are held today. The gap between the two parties is 2% which is within the error margin of this survey and therefore statistically insignificant.

Given Punjab represents more than half of the National Assembly seats, this narrowing gap however could have implications in terms of both parties’ abilities to bag seats. Both parties have had the same position in 2018 elections as PTI got 36% vote and PML-N 35% votes and it resulted in a difference of two seats. PTI bagged 63 seats and PML-N 61 seats.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), PTI’s approval has increased to 45% in 2024 from 37% in 2018. The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) has 15% approval rate there, PML-N 9% whereas 7% each of Awami National Party (ANP) and PPP. Considering JUI-F and PML-N alliance in South KP (stronghold of JUI-F) and Hazara region (stronghold of PML-N) could upset the PTI there. Same goes in Malakand where ANP and PPP have its vote bank.

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PTI presents seven nominations to Imran Khan for the judicial commission.

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Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has proposed seven individuals to its founder, Imran Khan, for consideration as founding members of PTI for membership in the next Judicial Commission.

None of the nominated individuals are attorneys; rather, the roster includes four Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) and three senators.

The proposed MNAs are Umar Ayub, Asad Qaiser, Ali Mohammad Khan, and Aamir Dogar, while the senators are Shibli Faraz, Mohsen Aziz, and Aun Abbas Bapi. Sources suggest that the Judicial Commission will include one opposition member from both the National Assembly and the Senate.

The PTI founder will evaluate and endorse two names from the suggested list, which will then be sent to the Speaker for future actions.

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Miller confirmed that Biden’s administration got a letter from a congressman requesting the release of the PTI founder.

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Following his removal as prime minister in 2022, Khan started a protest movement against a coalition of his enemies led by current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Since then, he has been in jail since August 2023 and has been involved in hundreds of cases.

In response to ARY News’ question over the congressmen’s letter during a media briefing in Washington on Monday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated, “We will respond in due course to the members.”

The United States wants to see Pakistan maintain its democracy, Miller stated.

The release of the PTI founder’s wife and sisters was a result of a meeting between the US Deputy Assistant Secretary and a Pakistani government representative in Islamabad, which was further questioned during the press briefing.

“I won’t be addressing that,” Miller said when asked if the United States was involved in their release. Miller did, however, affirm that the conference included the defense of Pakistan’s basic liberties and rights.

Sixty-two members of the US Congress urged President Joe Biden on October 24 to support the release of Imran Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan, and other political prisoners.

The congressmen, who included well-known Muslim members Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, said in their letter that the Biden administration should ask Pakistani authorities to guarantee the safety of PTI founder Imran Khan.

They also underlined that US policy should concentrate on Pakistan’s human rights situation and asked that US ambassadors attend the PTI leader’s incarceration.

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A bill pertaining to the number of Supreme Court justices will soon be presented.

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Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), recently met, and the inside story of their conversation has revealed important political developments.

The leaders talked about a variety of constitutional and governance matters, including the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment, according to sources.

One of the primary outcomes of the conference was the decision to expeditiously introduce a bill in parliament that would increase the number of judges on the Supreme Court. Immediately after it is introduced in parliament, this law is expected to be approved in a matter of days.

In addition, the recently ratified 26th Constitutional Amendment was discussed, with particular attention paid to creating a system for the establishment of constitutional benches at the federal and provincial levels. The formation of constitutional benches would be the subject of formal meetings, they agreed.

Furthermore, the leaders examined the pending measure concerning the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) municipal authority, which has been sent to the appropriate committee for additional assessment.

They also discussed the implementation of an agreement on Punjabi issues between the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). According to sources, the conference also discussed the status of an agreement over fund release and administrative jobs in Punjab.

Bilawal Bhutto was reassured by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that the federal government would continue to support continued development initiatives in Sindh.

PM Sharif and Bilawal met on Sunday at the premier’s Model Town home in Lahore, where they talked about the newly ratified 26th Constitutional Amendment and pledged to support Pakistan’s parliamentary system and democracy.

As a historic step, Bilawal Bhutto celebrated the 26th Constitutional Amendment’s adoption during the meeting. He said: “We will work together to strengthen democracy and parliament.”

In agreement, Shehbaz credited the amendment’s accomplishment to the combined efforts of all coalition members. He promised that his commitment to the people would not falter and reiterated his commitment to public service.

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