Politics

‘PTI’s popularity is 70%’: How credible is the survey Imran Khan cited?

Published

2 years ago

Farwa

Former prime minister Imran Khan has made a bullish claim, insisting that a recent survey finds his political party’s popularity soaring to 70% in the Punjab province. But the survey Khan has cited, may be based on limited and arguably sketchy data, Geo Fact Check finds.

“Look at this graph,” the 70-year-old leader said, in a recorded video message on Wednesday, “The result of a survey. This tells you that right now the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is 70% popular.”

He repeated the claim in an interview with Al Jazeera on the same day.

The survey Khan is quoting was conducted by an Islamabad-based think tank, which goes by the name of Republic Policy.

As per the website of the think tank, the poll was conducted between May 10 and 15 in Punjab and its data found that 70% of the respondents it reached out to had a favourable opinion of Imran Khan.

While the former prime minister’s political rivals, Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz had a combined popularity of only 18%.

However, neither the think tank’s web portal nor its YouTube channel provides any additional information on the methodology used to collect the information, the cities and rural areas in Punjab it targeted or the sample size of the survey.

Tahir Maqsood Chheena, one of the heads of Republic Policy, told Geo Fact Check over the phone, that 10-15 students, who worked as volunteers, helped him complete the survey.

“I also called people myself,” he added, “People who I knew, as well as sent teams in the field.”

Even more astounding is the sample size of the survey.

Chheena alleged that the think tank interviewed 25 people in each union council of the province. Punjab has over 4,015 union councils, which would mean that the Republic Policy reached out to an astounding 100,375 people in just five days.

“I cannot tell you an exact number of the sample size,” Chheena said, “It could have been 90,000 or 100,000.”

When asked if his team identified people scientifically, based on their income and profession, amongst other things. He said: “We did nothing as such. You have the right to say we did not do it [the survey] properly. Next time we will keep this in mind.”

The Republic Policy conducted a similar survey in March, where it again found Imran Khan’s popularity to be 62% in Punjab, much ahead of all other politicians.

Bilal Gilani, the executive director at Gallup Pakistan, said that in order to determine the quality of a survey it is important to tell the readers the sample size and the profile of the respondents interviewed, in terms of profession etc.

“I saw this survey and it didn’t tell you the sample size or the profiles,” he told Geo Fact Check.

He added that as per the international code of ethics for polling organisations, they must transparently disclose all information about themselves, including what they do and how.

“Even these details are scarce about the Republic Policy,” he said.

What is Republic Policy?

The think tank was launched in November 2022, Chheena said. It is run by him and “some other friends” who are all retired civil servants. Chheena himself is a former police official.

On social media, most of its tweets are favourable to Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Latest News

PTI suggests resuming talks with government over judicial commission issue.

Published

1 week ago

Farwa

Barrister Gohar, Chairman of the PTI, has claimed that the party’s founder has suspended negotiations, emphasizing that the government should declare the commission within seven days.

He emphasized the PTI’s openness to rethink if the government makes headway and establishes the commission.

Barrister Gohar told the reporters, “Seven days were enough to announce the commission.” We are ready to reconsider, but the government must first announce the commission.”

He stated that the PTI approached the negotiations with an open mind. “The PTI founder has halted the negotiations. “The government had eight laws on their agenda, while we only had two demands,” he stated.

The PTI chairman went on to say that even after seven days, no progress had been made in forming the commission. He encouraged the government to reconsider the decision and proceed with the announcement.

Latest News

PTI will declare February 8 to be “Black Day,” sparking protests across the country.

Published

2 weeks ago

Farwa

According to reports, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) intends to hold rallies nationwide on Wednesday in support of its decision to declare February 8, the one-year anniversary of the general elections, a black day.

According to media sources, PTI founder Imran Khan has instructed all party lawmakers—including MPAs and MNAs—to plan and take part in demonstrations in their local communities on February 8 in order to draw attention to their complaints and issues.

In a recent meeting with legal advisors on Wednesday, Imran Khan expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of the party’s Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram. The meeting emphasized the importance of party discipline and gave stern directives to abstain from any criticism of Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the head of the JUI-F.

It has also been suggested that the PTI engage opposition leaders in the demonstrations in order to win their support.

Party insiders revealed that the founder has urged leaders to ensure effective coordination and mobilised efforts in preparation for February 8.

Latest News

In 13 cases involving the D-Chowk demonstration, Bushra Bibi granted temporary release until February 7.

Published

2 weeks ago

Farwa

Bushra Bibi, the wife of the PTI chairman, was granted temporary release by the Islamabad Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in 13 counts pertaining to the November 26 D-Chowk protest. Judge Tahir Abbas Supra ordered the police to produce all pertinent documentation by February 7 and granted bail against surety bonds of Rs. 5,000 apiece.

Additionally, Bushra Bibi was given temporary release until February 7 in the Rangers’ accident case. During the hearing, Judge Tahir Abbas Supra expressed disappointment over the behavior of the defense counsel on two occasions. Addressing the lawyers, he remarked, “You demand VIP protocol everywhere, but this is not possible. Prepare your files properly before coming to court.”

Three cases at the Secretariat Police Station, two each at the Margalla, Karachi Company, and Ramna Police Stations, and one each at the Tarnol, Kohsar, Aabpara, and Khanna Police Stations are among the numerous charges against Bushra Bibi.

In addition, the judge chastised the defense team for requesting that Bushra Bibi sign and thumbprint blank documents. He said, “The accused must sign and thumbprint the court orders, not blank sheets.”

Bushra Bibi also went to the Islamabad High Court to have her biometrics verified in relation to her appeal to be exonerated in the Toshakhana-II case. On Monday, Bushra Bibi and the PTI chairman submitted their acquittal petitions. After finishing the biometric procedure, she departed right away.