BOTH the PPP and PML-N need to take into account the findings of the opinion survey conducted by Washington-based New America Foundation and Terror Free Tomorrow. The exercise, third in the past nine months, would help map the direction of trends in public perception. These polls indicate a steady rise in popularity of Mian Nawaz Sharif and his party and decline in the case of Mr Asif Zardari and the PPP. As these polls were conducted in all four provinces, the conclusions are highly significant and should be an eye-opener to the PPP, which considers that the issue of the judges' restoration had been blown out of proportion and has pussyfooted on action against the President. No less than 93 per cent of those interviewed said they were for free judiciary and nearly three-quarters wanted the President to be impeached in case he did not resign. Another factor that has played a significant role in bringing down the graph of the PPP's popularity is the sad state of the economy. After the departure of the PML-N from the federal cabinet the PPP is considered by the common man to be responsible for his economic woes like the runaway inflation and shortage of power. The PPP leadership can rightly claim that it inherited these problems. Further that policies of the previous government like excessive borrowing despite opposition by the State Bank, lack of fiscal discipline, failure to undertake major infrastructure projects to ensure adequate water and power supply or take timely notice of the rising trends in food and fuel prices and shift the burden of the rise in the fuel prices to the consumer are responsible for most of the misfortunes the people face today. The man in the street however tends to judge the government from what it is able to deliver and thinks he has been provided little economic relief during the last three months. The PML-N has to realize that it can face similar decline in popularity in Punjab if it fails to deliver. Dissatisfaction with the current government however has not created a soft corner for the military playing a role in politics. The disapproval rate has instead risen from 46 percent last August to 64 percent now. The government has to resolve the issue of the deposed judges and the future of the President at the earliest in line with the public aspirations. The coalition partners have to jointly hammer out an economic policy that can provide relief to the people. For this the PML-N has to be inducted into the federal cabinet at the earliest.