Seven in 10 Pakistanis lack confidence in the honesty of the general elections, a Gallup International survey has shown.

“The political atmosphere ahead of Pakistan’s first general election since 2018 is equally as glum as the economic one,” it said in its report published on Tuesday

Pakistan is set to hold polls on February 8 in which more than 128 million would exercise their right to vote. Many journalists and experts have expressed concerns over the transparency in elections as the former prime minister stays behind bars and a crackdown on his party supporters.

Last week, the Supreme Court stripped the former ruling party of its iconic bat symbol and upheld the December 23 order of the Election Commission of Pakistan that nullified the intra-party elections of the PTI.

The survey was conducted late last year.

According to the survey, a clear majority of Pakistanis (88%) also believe that corruption within their government is widespread, on par with the figure from 2022 (86%), which was a record high for the country. Last year, just one in four (25%) approved of Pakistan’s leadership.

It added that last year Pakistanis were more pessimistic about their economy as a record-high 70% said the country’s economic conditions are getting worse.

The perception was made against the backdrop of the inflation rate that spiked to 29.7% in December and the value of rupee that was Asia’s worst-performing currency last year.

In 2023, record-high numbers of Pakistanis thought that both their local economy (70%) and their personal standard of living were getting worse (61%).

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“Pakistanis are increasingly finding it hard to make ends meet: 49% last year found it “very difficult” to get by on their present income, another record high.”

Moreover, the people had negative views about migrants. Thirty-seven per cent believed that immigrants living in Pakistan were a “good thing.”

Last year, the South Asian country expelled illegal immigrants – most of them were Afghan nationals – as they blamed many nationals from the neighbouring country of being involved in terrorist attacks.