Islamabad: A majority of Pakistanis feel President Pervez Musharraf should resign while two-thirds of respondents in a new national survey backed the new Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani's performance.

Fifty-one per cent of respondents in the poll conducted by Gallup Pakistan said the embattled former General should resign. Another 22 per cent supported a move to remove the President through impeachment while 26 per cent favoured his continuation.

Two-third of the respondents in the survey gave a "very favourable or favourable" view about new Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani. Another 29 per cent rated him as "fair", indicating moderate approval. Only seven per cent rated him poorly.

Eighty-one per cent of respondents favoured the reinstatement of deposed Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry while 17 per cent opposed it. Musharraf had sacked Chaudhry after imposing emergency in Pakistan in 2007.

Asked about the expected longevity of the new parliament, 40 per cent of the respondents said there is a "high chance" of it completing its five-year term while the same percentage said the chances are "moderate".

Eighteen per cent of the respondents said they believed the chances that the new parliament will complete its full tenure without being dismissed are "either slim or none at all".

Over the past 20 years, most popularly elected parliaments in Pakistan were prematurely dismissed without completing their tenure.

Slightly under half of the respondents  45 per cent  said the two major coalition partners in the new government, the Pakistan People's Party and the PML-N, will "pull it together amicably".

But a significant section  31 per cent  said that the coalition "is likely to fall apart soon", said a statement from Gallup Pakistan.

Another 36 per cent said they were unable to make a judgment in this matter.

Before the February 18 general election, only 15 per cent of people believed Pakistan was headed in the right direction. This figure rose to 40 per cent soon after the polls and according to the latest Gallup Pakistan poll completed six weeks after the elections, 54 per cent said the country is headed in the right direction.

But 43 per cent said Pakistan is not headed in the right direction.

Gallup said the survey was conducted in two phases during March 30-31 and April 5-6. The size for each phase was over 1,200 respondents, the statement said.

Source : PTI