‘Majority Pakistanis favour a strong leader instead of democracy’

Gallup survey indicates urban centres prefer strong leaders more as opposed to rural areas

Picture source - bpac.in

Forty seven percent of Pakistanis believe that the country would emerge from crisis with a ‘strong leader’ at the helm as opposed to 33 percent who think democracy is the way to go.

According to a survey by Gallup Pakistan, respondents were asked whether they thought that a ‘strong leader’ or ‘democracy’ would help solve Pakistan’s problems. Close to half the respondents said the country should depend on a strong leader, while 13 percent did not know how to respond, and 6 percent had no response.

Moreover, strong leaders appeared to enjoy more support in urban areas as 52 percent of the urban survey takers responded in favour of them, while 33 percent preferred a democratic apparatus.

Pakistan has undergone multiple dictatorial regimes since 1947. The grounds of military intervention and consequent dictatorial takeover are claimed by historians to have begun in 1953 when the then governor general Ghulam Muhammad dismissed the constituent assembly of prime minister Khawaja Nazimuddin.

In 1958, army commander-in-chief General Ayub Khan came to power through martial law. The democratically elected government of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was ousted by former president General Ziaul Haq in 1977. In 1999, General Pervaiz Musharraf took charge of the country after a coup against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in 1999.