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January 8, 2008
Pakistan: Poll Finds Citizens Distrust US, Support "Islamic Democracy"
AKI and the Pakistan Daily Times report on a poll that was conducted by the Washington-based research group, World Public Opinion for the US Institute of Peace (USIP). The survey was conducted among 907 adults in 19 Pakistani cities from September 12-28, 2007, and has a margin of error of 3.3%. The answers were given before the State of Emergency was imposed. This lasted from Saturday November 3 until December 16.
AKI reports that most respondents claimed to be against extreme Islamist groups, but wanted more involvement of Islamic principles in democracy. 61% stated that they wanted to see Sharia law to play a greater part in Pakistan than it currently does, stating that Islamic law was "absolutely important". When asked if Pakistan was currently governed by Islamic principles, the mean response was 4.6. SHaria law was introduced to Pakistan's court system in the 1970s.
The poll also found that the majority of respondents (64%) were behind government attempts to reform madrassas. Only 17% objected to the reform of madrassas. Though respondents were predominantly against the Talibanization of Pakistan (59%), they also objected to attempts to stop the Taliban. 60-62% felt that the activities of Al Qaeda, the local Taliban and Islamists threatened Pakistan's vital interests.
Additionally, the poll found that a majority were distrustful of America and its War on Terrorism. 64% felt that the United States could not be trusted "to act responsibly in the world". 68% thought that the US presence in Afghanistan damaged their nation's interests. 72% thought that the US presence in Asia damaged Pakistan's interests. A mere 27% believed that military and security cooperation with the Americans benefitted Pakistan.
86% of respondents said that the United States was definitely (70%) or probably (16%) aiming to "weaken and divide the Islamic world". This was a significant increase on a survey carried out in February 2007.
On a scale of 1 to 10, when asked "How important it is to you to live in a country that is governed by representatives elected by the people?" the mean response was 8.4.
Steven Kull, director of World Public Opinion, said: "It shows there is no major Western-oriented secular sub-group in Pakistan. People want more Islam. They don't think Pakistan is pious enough or that Islamic values are adequately expressed in daily life."
Reassuringly, 81% of respondents felt it was important to protect religious minorities. 75-78% claimed that attacks upon specific religious minorities were never justified.
The mean response to a question asking if it was important to live in a nation where "the decisions of the courts are independent from influence by political and military authorities" was (on a scale of 1 to 10) 8.6. When asked if Pakistan achieved this, the mean response was only 5.6.
On World Public Opinion's website, C. Christine Farr from USIP said: "With Pakistan as perhaps the most important country in the war on terrorism, the good news is that majorities of Pakistanis view most militant groups in Pakistan as a threat. The bad news is that many Pakistanis view the U.S. with great suspicion."
A review of the report stated that: "Support for a greater role for Sharia may indicate that Pakistanis simply want their civil courts to function more effectively (the Pakistani justice system is well known for its long delays) rather than for a fundamental change."
A majority of respondents wanted the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of North-West Frontier Province, which are "administered" but not fully integrated into Pakistan, to be phased out and the FATA regions to become authentically part of the federal system.
The full 28-page report, entitled "Pakistan Public Opinion on Democracy, Islamist Militancy and Relations with the US" can be found as a pdf document HERE.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at January 8, 2008 10:07 AM
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