48% Pakistani youth believe election would not bring 'any change in their lives'

As Pakistan edges closer to the polls day with two days remaining, about half the youth of the country believe that the result of the elections and the new regime will not bring 'any change to their daily lives'. 

The survey, ‘Political Participation Landscape of Pakistani Youth’, was carried out by Ipsos for Voice of America (VOA) from January 3 to January 12. 

48% of respondents, aged between 18 to 35, are not expecting any change in their lives after the general elections, set to be held on February 8.

However, only 6% believe the elections will bring a significant change in their lives, 10% expect minor change, 15% hold hope of limited change, and only 20% of youth anticipate that the polls will replace the system.

60 percent of youth belonging to Balochistan believe that upcoming polls will not impose any impact on the citizens’ lives due to inflation, terrorism, and political uncertainty in the province.

Almost 51 percent young voters of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) also expressed disappointment with the result of the elections.

47% and 43% youth of Punjab and Sindh, respectively are not expecting any change in their routine life after the polls.

A gender-based breakdown showed that 56% of women don’t expect any transformation in their lives.

However, the respondents also believe that free and fair elections are the only way to bring a change in the country and the lives of the citizens.

Contrary to the above notion, almost 70 percent of Pakistanis think that the polls will not be free and fair elections in the country.