Adil Najam
With all the turmoil that all institutions of leadership in Pakistan are going through right now in the wake of the Abbottabad operation, this seems to be a good time to gauge if public opinion – or at least reader opinion on this blog – has changed regarding the performance of Pakistani leadership.
So, for the fifth time now, we are posting this ATP Poll question to request our readers to please grade the performance of the key figures in Pakistan politics. We had asked you to respond to the same question in December 2010, in October 2010 and in April 2010 and earlier in 2009 (here and here). We had presented the comparison between the first two results here.
Can you please grade for us the performance of the six power centers in Pakistan: the President, the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice, the Chief of Army, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Media. The focus, once again, is on how you think they have performed in these roles. In this installment of ATP Polls we would like to find out how you grade the performance of those holding key offices in Pakistan: President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani, Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, Chief of Army Staff Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kiani, and Opposition Leader Nawaf Sharif. Once again, we have included the Media (as a whole and as an institution) since they also influence Pakistan’s power balance.
Events of recent weeks have probably changed the power politics between these institutional bases more than ever before. Lets see if, and how, that changes our readers perceptions. With five data points, it will also be interesting to see how this perception has shifted over the last two years that we have been asking this question.
I know I am repeating myself (both in this post and from the previous ones), and I also realize that at some level this appeal may be ignored, but do let me say again that the purpose of this exercise is not to see whether you like these people or not, it is to see what how you think they have been performing in the offices they now hold. It is perfectly possible to not particularly like someone but come to the conclusion that they are doing a decent job in what they have been assigned to do, or vice versa. So, please, even though this is just a fun exercise, use your vote justly.
Do also comment on how you think they have been performing, and what aspects of their performance influenced your vote.
The embarrassment that the military has caused us with the failure of intelligence or response in Abotabad has to be at Kiyani’s doorstep. The civilian government has not been good but certainly not as bad as the failure of the military.
Pakistan for Sale…..
Contact: Zardari Associates
@shez
Do you really think that everyone thinks the same way as you!
Maybe they don’t.
In any poll, online or not, unless 100% vote are one way it means different people have different opinion.
Unless we learn to respect this idea that others can have a different view of things, even on Zardari or Kiyani, we will never understand democracy.
What’s the purpose of this poll, really? It does not reflect public opinion. Just look at the results of Zardari, who nobody likes but is still taking a lead. His supporters must have been thronging and spamming the results.
Just proves that online polls are worthless, especially in third world countries like Pakistan and India.
IN the last few polls with this question I had given Gen. Kiyani high grades as Army Chief because (a) he was keeping out of politics and (b) he was fighting a good war against Taliban and others in Waziristan. But after the military failure in Abbottabad case, I have to give him an F this time.