ISLAMABAD : Almost 51% Pakistanis blame the current Government for the frequent electricity load shedding as compared to only 22% who thought so in 2009.
Furthermore, the public appears to have lost faith in the PPP government’s ability to resolve the electricity crisis, with 62%now saying that this is not likely at all as compared to 46% who said so in 2009, showed the results of a recent Gilani Poll conducted by Gallup Pakistan.In a survey, a nationally representative sample of men and women from across the country were asked the following question, “In your view, who is responsible for load shedding?” 32% respondents blamed the Musharraf government while 51% blamed the current PPP government for the persistent problem of load shedding. 16% felt no one was to blame while 1% did not respond. A comparison with the results ofa similar poll conducted in March 2009 shows that two years ago, the blame was primarily being placed on the Musharraf regime and only 22% were blaming the PPP government.In a follow-up question, respondents were asked the following question: ‘How likely is it that the current Government will succeed in ending the electricity crisis?’ The responses to this question showthat in the last two years, the public has further lost hope in this regard; only 4% strongly believe this is possible while 27% think it is somewhat likely. An overwhelming 62%, however, feel that it is not at all likely that the current government will manage to resolve the electricity crisis. This figure has significantly increased from 2009 when 46% respondents expressed this opinion. The percentage of those who consider it very likely that the current Government can manage the electricitycrisis has declined from 12% in 2009 to 4% in 2011 and those who did not respond have also decreased from 18% to 7%.The study was released by Gilani foundation and carried out by Gallup Pakistan, the Pakistani affiliate of Gallup International. The recent survey was carried out among a sample of 2774 men and women in rural and urban areas of all four provinces of the country, during April 2011. Error margin is estimated to be approximately + 2-3 per cent at 95% confidence level. PPI