Nearly 49% Pakistanis blame Imran Khan's PTI govt for inflation; reveals survey

At least 49% of Pakistanis believe that their Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is responsible for inflation in the country, reports said on Sunday.

As per a survey conducted by Ipsos, respondents stated that price hikes have impacted all classes in Pakistan, with the lowest socio-economic classes suffering the most due to it.

The research which was conducted from October 28 to November 4, involving 1,000 respondents, revealed that half of the Pakistanis blame the federal government for inflation. Only 15% of the respondents blamed the previous governments for it, which the PTI and PM Imran Khan have been claiming since day one in power.

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While 49% Pakistanis held the Centre responsible for the crisis, 17% blamed provincial governments and only 8% blamed an unknown mafia. The highest 59% number of people accusing the PTI government of causing inflation belonged to Balochistan, closely followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 58% followed by 46% in Punjab and 44% in Sindh.

The survey also revealed that a whopping 97% of the respondents have been affected by the price hikes. Of these, 88% expressed concerns about a further rise in prices of commodities. As per the Ipsos survey, 4 out of every 5 Pakistanis (83% people) faced cuts in their income due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

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PML-N calls out Imran's 'fake' govt

Besides the citizens, the Imran Khan government has also been facing the heat of the Opposition alliance ahead of the elections in Pakistan. In the latest attack against the Prime Minister, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz Sharif said that Imran Khan's days were numbered and claimed that his "fake government" is about to end. 

Last week, Nawaz Sharif's daughter Maryam was addressing an election rally in Chilas, where she said that the 'turncoats' should also be shown the way home, the days of 'fake rulers' have been numbered and the last push would be made on November 15 - the day of the election.

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The PML-N vice-president also alleged that rigging of votes was taking place even before the Gilgit-Baltistan polls and that people should protect their votes and prevent them from being stolen. She added that the people here are as strong as the mountains of Himalayas, and they have always supported her party in good and bad times. She claimed that development projects and the roads that pass through the area were during the PML-N era. 

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(With inputs from agency)