Poll: Pakistanis Want Islamic Democracy

January 7, 2008

Author: Staff Writer

Source: TVNZ

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/1536260

Most Pakistanis want their country to be a democratic Islamic state but are deeply distrustful of the United States and its war on terrorism, according to a poll released.

Funded by the US Institute of Peace, or USIP, the poll was taken in the nuclear-armed nation before President Pervez Musharraf's six-week state of emergency and the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto last month.

The results, released about six weeks before elections scheduled for February 18, show that a large majority of Pakistanis see democracy as fully compatible with Islam, the pollsters said.

Democracy ranked especially high among the 60% of respondents who wanted Muslim-based Sharia law to play a larger role in legal affairs.