A majority of Pakistanis want President Pervez Mushrraf to quit immediately and do not favour the party backed by him, according to the first major opinion poll released since he imposed emergency last month.
About 67 per cent of Pakistanis want Musharraf out of power and 56 per cent said the army, which has ruled Pakistan for long periods since it won independence 60 years ago, should have no role in the government, said the poll by the Washington-based International Republican Institute that was released on Thursday.
Asked which party they would support in the polls, 30 per cent of respondents said they would support Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, 25 per cent Sharif's PML-N party and 23 per cent the ruling PML-Q, which backs Musharraf.
It found that 60 per cent of Pakistanis opposed a deal between Musharraf and former premier Benazir Bhutto to form a government.
However, 58 per cent said they would back a 'grand opposition alliance' of Bhutto, her political rival and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and other parties opposed to Musharraf.
Two-thirds of the respondents 'expressed anger at the current state of affairs, desired change and were anti-Musharraf,' the IRI said, adding that one-third 'remained supportive of President Musharraf and were positive about the condition of the country.'Pakistan appears to be heading for a hung Parliament after the January 8 general election if Bhutto and Sharif do not form an alliance, the poll said.
"If they did unite, they would put themselves in a much stronger position," said Robert Varsalone, IRI's director for Pakistan.
Though Bhutto has offered to have seat adjustments with the PML-N, Sharif has ruled out electoral alliances with any party. The two parties also failed to agree on a joint boycott of the polls due to strong differences on the issue of reinstating deposed judges of the superior judiciary.
The poll also showed that 70 per cent of Pakistanis felt the country was headed in the 'wrong direction' and 51 per cent said their personal economic situation had worsened.
The poll was based on the responses of 3,520 randomly selected men and women across Pakistan. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.69 percentage points, IRI said.
The findings of the survey were released amidst allegations by Bhutto and Sharif, whose nomination papers have been rejected, that the polls would be rigged to benefit the PML-Q.
The two leaders have also said they will organize protests if the election is not free and fair.
Musharraf, who is set to end the emergency on Saturday, has pledged to hold free and fair polls and to work with any party that emerges victorious. However, live coverage of election rallies by television news channels has been banned and opposition parties say they cannot appeal against controversial decisions by poll officials as all judges now owe allegiance to Musharraf.
