3 pc Pakistanis are happy at Musharraf's resignation

Islamabad, Aug 20 : Around 63 percent of people in Pakistan are happy at former president Pervez Musharraf's resignation, while 15 percent regret the move, a new survey conducted by Pakistan's unit of Gallup International has revealed.

Nearly 20 percent of those interviewed couldn't tell whether were happy or unhappy at Musharraf's moving out of the scene. "20 percent were ambivalent about saying whether they were happy or unhappy", the Daily Times quoted the survey findings as saying.

The poll was carried out by Gallup Pakistan (Pakistan Institute of Public Opinion), the Pakistani affiliate of Gallup International, soon after Musharraf announced his resignation on Monday. The sample size - approximately 560 people - may be argued, is too small to be considered significant.

70 percent of the respondents disputed Musharraf's claim that he resigned with the motive of "Pakistan first". Instead, they said, he had resigned in personal interest - a "Musharraf first" approach.

As Musharraf's era came to an end, 55 percent of Pakistanis expected that conditions in the country would improve, 19 percent said that conditions would worsen, while another 19 percent expected no change.

65 percent of those interviewed supported holding a proper trial while only 26 percent were in favour of the "forgive and forget" option.

85 percent wanted Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and other judges to be restored immediately, six percent opposed restoration, while nine percent thought the issue should not be taken up right now.

ANI