A poll indicates 65 percent of Pakistani men and women want Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to resign. Gilani was convicted last month by the Supreme Court of a contempt of court charge for defying its orders to reopen a corruption case against President Asif Ali Zardari. Gilani was sentenced to 30 seconds of jail time. Geo News said nearly 50 percent of people polled said they were in favor of the Supreme Court decision, Of the 38 percent who said they were opposed, many said it was because the punishment was inadequate.
The corruption case against Zardari involves kickbacks he and his late wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, allegedly received from companies when she was prime minister in the 1990s. A Swiss court found the couple guilty in absentia in 2003. Swiss prosecutors dropped case in 2008, however, after the Pakistani government approved a law granting immunity to Zardari and others. Poll details were not released.