Imran Khan s PTI ahead of PML N for General Elections 2018: Polls

ISLAMABAD – The Pakistani opposition party led by former cricket star ImranKhan appears to be gaining ground ahead of a July 25 general election, withone new poll showing it pulling ahead of the outgoing ruling party andanother showing it only slightly behind.

A survey by Pulse Consultant showed Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI,or Pakistan Justice Movement) ahead with 30 percent of the respondentsnationwide, compared to 27 percent for its main rival, the Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz (PML-N). The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was at 17 percent.

A separate nationwide poll by Gallup Pakistan had PML-N on top with 26percent, PTI with 25 percent and the PPP at 16 percent.

Both polls were commissioned by Pakistan’s Jang Media Group and werepublished on Wednesday in its affiliated newspaper, The News. They eachsurveyed about 3,000 people, with a margin of error of 1.6 percent for thePulse survey and 2-3 percent for Gallup.

The new polls indicate a swing toward Khan’s party compared to similarnationwide polls in 2017, which put the PML-N 8-9 percentage points aheadof PTI.

The Gallup poll showed most of the PML-N’s losses were to voters whoresponded “undecided” in the most recent poll, conducted between May 1 andJune 6, while the Pulse poll indicated that most of PML-N’s losses wentdirectly to PTI.

Khan’s political fortunes have improved since PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif wasremoved as prime minister by the Supreme Court last year over undeclaredassets.

Sharif, who was disqualified from politics for life, now faces a verdict inan anti-corruption court on Friday along with his daughter Maryam, who isrunning for parliament. The case, which involves the purchase of luxuryapartments in London, could see Sharif jailed and Maryam disqualified.

Sharif’s has accused the military and courts conspiring to oust him andusing legal cases and intimidation to help Khan’s PTI party, accusationsdenied by Khan, the army and the judiciary.