Lahore, Apr 27 : A new poll conducted by the US-based International Republican Institute (IRI) in all the four provinces of Pakistan has found that most Pakistanis feel that President Pervez Musharraf should not continue with both his offices of Army Chief and President simultaneously.

The poll, findings of which were released yesterday, was conducted from February 12 to March 7, 2007, questioning 3997 adult men and women from around 256 villages and 144 urban locations in 65 districts in all four provinces of the country.

According to the survey findings, around 56 percent of respondents said that Musharraf should not hold both offices, while around 30 percent favoured him continuing in both posts. The opposition to the President's dual role increased by around 26 percent compared with the IRI's June 2006 survey on the same question.

In the previous poll, Musharraf as President-cum-Army-Chief had enjoyed the support of 49 percent of respondents, reported the Daily Times.

To the question of whether Musharraf should be re-elected as the President by the current parliament, around 48 percent of respondents disagreed with the idea while 43 percent favoured it.

Besides, 42 percent of the respondents said that the ruling coalition's performance was not good enough for them to warrant re-election.

Some 54.2 percent of respondents said they approved of the way Musharraf was doing his job, but this was nine percent less than in the previous survey in September 2006. In Punjab, his support dropped 22 percent, as only 54 percent of Punjab residents questioned in the poll thought that he was handling his job properly, as compared to 76 percent in the previous survey. Support for the president was strongest in Sindh (60.6 percent) and Balochistan (61 percent).

To the question of which leader could effectively handle Pakistan's problems, 32 percent of respondents said Gen Musharraf was the most suitable leader, followed by Benazir Bhutto (25.4 percent) and Nawaz Sharif (15.1 percent). Less than five percent of respondents considered all other political leaders - including Altaf Hussain, Imran Khan, Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Maulana Fazlur Rehman - as leaders who could solve their problems. Province-wise, Gen Musharraf gained 48.4 percent support from Balochistan, Benazir Bhutto 56 percent from Sindh, and Nawaz Sharif 23 percent from Punjab. Most agreed that Benazir Bhutto (65 percent) and Nawaz Sharif (63.3 percent) should be allowed to return to Pakistan. More than 50 percent of Pakistan Muslim League voters also favoured the exiled leaders' return.