Poll Says Bhutto Supporters Are Not Necessarily Anti-Zia
Special to the New York Times
Published: December 9, 1988
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NEW DELHI, Dec. 8— A poll by Gallup Pakistan after the National Assembly elections on Nov. 16 that brought Benazir Bhutto to power as Prime Minister found that only 8 percent of voters backing her party said they were doing so because they opposed President Mohammad Zia ul-Haq.
General Zia was killed in a plane crash in August.
A far larger number of voters, 22 percent, chose Ms. Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party because they believed she would be a capable leader, said the results of the survey, ”Pakistan at the Polls.” Eighteen percent said they voted for her out of loyalty to the party of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, her father.
Among voters for the opposition Islamic Democratic Alliance, which included General Zia’s political heirs, 36 percent said they voted for the alliance because it was ”more Islamic” than Ms. Bhutto’s party. Another 24 percent said they thought the image of the alliance was stronger and more ”manly,” an issue apparently introduced by Ms. Bhutto’s presence in the race.
Ten percent said they voted for the Islamic Democratic Alliance to keep the People’s Party out of power.
The Gallup Pakistan poll was based on interviews with 3,075 male voters as they left polling stations on Nov. 16. The report does not explain why women were not surveyed.
