WASHINGTON: A new survey shows that 64 per cent Pakistanis had a positive view of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif before the D-Chowk protests while support for Imran Khan had slipped by 17 points.

The survey by the Washington-based Pew Research Centre suggests that the favourable opinion of the prime minister remained almost as high as it was — 66pc — weeks before his election victory last year.

The researchers interviewed 1,203 Pakistani adults from April 15 to May 7, 2014, for this survey. The sample covered approximately 82pc of Pakistan’s adult population.

About a third — 32pc — gave Mr Sharif an unfavourable rating.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Imran Khan was the second most popular leader in Pakistan before the sit-in, with 53pc positive and 24pc negative ratings. But his popularity had slipped by 17pc over the past two years.

Meanwhile, the country’s military — always a key player in Pakistan’s politics — received stunningly high ratings with 87pc said the military had a good influence on the nation, up from an already high 79pc in 2013.

While most Pakistanis remained unhappy with the country’s direction, the public mood was more positive than it has been in recent years. While only 25pc were satisfied with the way things were going in Pakistan, this was a significant improvement from the 8pc who felt that way in 2013.

The percentage saying the economy was in good shape had more than doubled since last year, rising from 17pc to 37pc.

And 36pc expected the economy to improve in the next 12 months.

Extremist groups: While Pakistanis still believed their country faced a long list of challenges, they were less likely to describe as very big problems issues such as public debt, the situation in Afghanistan, tension between Sunnis and Shias and corruption.

The survey also found that only 8pc of the public gave the Taliban a positive rating and just 12pc said they had a favourable opinion of Al Qaeda.

Threats to the country: When asked to rate the greatest threat facing their country — the Taliban, Al Qaeda or India — 51pc Pakistanis said India was the biggest threat, up from 38pc in 2013.

One-in-four named the Taliban and only 2pc said Al Qaeda.

India: Roughly seven-in-ten (71pc) expressed an unfavourable view of India, while only 13pc gave it a positive rating.

The United States: Only 14pc gave the US a favourable rating, and just 7pc had confidence in President Barack Obama. Still, the percentage of Pakistanis voicing a negative view of the US and Mr Obama had declined slightly over the last few years.

Drone Strikes: Drone strikes against extremist organizations, a key element of the Obama administration’s national security policy, were widely unpopular. Two-in-three Pakistanis opposed US drone attacks, while just 3pc approved and 30pc offered no opinion.

Two-thirds of Pakistanis believed drone strikes killed too many innocent people, and only 21pc thought they were necessary to defend the country from extremist groups.

Girls’ Education: Pakistanis broadly supported the education of girls. More than eight-in-ten (86pc) said that education was equally important for boys and girls. Very few thought that education was either more important for boys than girls (7pc) or more important for girls than boys (5pc).

Former President Asif Ali Zardari, who left office in September 2013 with a favourability rating of 14pc, continued to be unpopular, though he had seen a boost to his favourability since stepping down. Roughly a quarter of Pakistanis (27pc) had a positive opinion of Mr Zardari before the D-Chowk protests during which he earned positive points for his reconciliatory efforts.

Still, 69pc expressed a negative view.

Ratings for Gen Raheel Sharif, former Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and President Mamnoon Hussain were more positive than negative, though many declined to offer an opinion.

About four-in-ten (41pc) had a favourable opinion of Gen Sharif while just 12pc offered a negative view.

Similarly, 40pc expressed a positive opinion of Mr Chaudhry; 19pc reported a negative view. Support for Mr Chaudhry has seen a slow decline since 2010, when 61pc held positive opinions of him.

President Hussain received higher favourable than unfavourable views, but a majority of Pakistanis (55pc) offered no opinion about the businessman-turned-politician.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2014