2016-2020

The Malay Mail | KUALA LUMPUR, 02-May-2018 — Pakatan Harapan (PH) has moved nearer towards reaching the threshold needed to win Johor in the election, according to independent pollster Merdeka Center’s preliminary survey.

Its executive director Ibrahim Suffian said while the situation still appears to favour Barisan Nasional, the latest findings revealed that the Opposition pact is gaining more Malay votes as polling day draws closer.

“We realise that Pakatan has gained additional Malay votes while the Chinese votes are maintained.

“It has reached a point where they are getting closer to the threshold. But at this point, BN still prevails,” he said at a Merdeka Center seminar at Menara Chulan here.

As of last night, the preliminary survey involved some 700 respondents nationwide.

He, however, did not disclose the new percentages as of May 1, as the survey was still ongoing.

Ibrahim said he hoped to reveal the updated findings containing the latest figures by next week.

Last week, Merdeka Center released its findings which showed that the ethnic Chinese in Johor has expressed the most confidence for Pakatan at 77.6 per cent.

Meanwhile, Malay and ethnic Indian support stood at 19.4 per cent and 32.7 per cent respectively.

He previously said PH needed an extra 10 per cent of Malay support and 5 per cent of Chinese support to have a realistic chance at capturing the state.

The findings were formulated from data collected up until April 9.

In 2013, then opposition pact Pakatan Rakyat had won 18 out of 56 state seats in Johor, which was triple the number of seats it previously won in 2008.

thestar.com.my | 29-Apr-2018 – THERE is dissatisfaction among Malay voters, especially those living in urban constituencies in the Klang Valley, where griping about the high cost of living and corruption is a preoccupation.

Make no mistake though; such unhappiness will translate into votes for the Opposition on polling day. But whether a Malay tsunami or merely waves of discontent prevail remains to be seen.

Journalists and pollsters who have visited the villages and engaged the rural electorate did not sense overwhelming anger to end Barisan Nasional’s reign.

Those who have loudly predicted the winds of change are mainly urbanites who have never ventured into these backwoods. Quiz them on the names of the 114-odd rural Malay constituencies and they are most likely to stare blankly.

They make their deductions based on chatter among friends in WhatsApp chat groups, interacting with people who echo their political sentiments.

Those who fail to fall in line with these loud voices are likely to keep their cards close to their chests for fear of being singled out, or worse, being booted out of these chat groups.

Obviously, many will find it difficult to embrace the latest findings of independent polling firm Merdeka Center, which says that Barisan Nasional will win in the general election.

What Merdeka Center has revealed is what many other pollsters – local and foreign – have said all along, except with different spins. The prognosis, however, is consistent.

Then there are those likely to subscribe to the findings of Invoke (funded by PKR leader Rafizi Ramli), it being more in tune with what they want to believe. The body has predicted the collapse of Barisan and PAS getting zero representation.

Last week, Merdeka Center reported that any swing in Malay support towards the Opposition will not be enough for Pakatan Harapan to wrest Putrajaya from Barisan.

It said not only is the ruling coalition poised to retain the status quo, but it also has the potential to “add a few more seats”.

Its executive director Ibrahim Suffian admitted that the shift in Malay support away from Barisan had benefited the Opposition in areas like Selangor, where it had captured enough votes to secure the state government.

There was a swing in Johor and Kedah as well, but it had not reached the level needed to form the state government, he added.

“In other states, the swing is present but because Opposition votes will be split, it is not likely to be material enough to shift the outcome,” he said after the forum “Malaysia GE14 Outlook: Perspec­tives and Outcomes”.

His assessment came a month after research outfit Ilham Centre said even growing disappointment among voters who supported PAS and Umno would not let Pakatan form the Federal Government.

The Opposition is banking on a “Malay tsunami” to win the coming polls.

However, Ibrahim said the only state where Pakatan had the potential to deny Barisan a two-thirds majority is Sabah.

“Pakatan and Warisan might make some inroads, but we don’t think it will be enough to take the government,” he reportedly said, referring to Sabah-based Parti Warisan Sabah, which is led by former Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.

He said the 1MDB controversy, the rising cost of living and the Goods and Services Tax had played a part in drawing support away from Barisan.

“But the recent redelineation exercise and PAS’ decision to leave Pakatan and be a third force has improved Barisan’s chances, even though we are likely to see a lower popular vote (for Barisan),” he said.

Ibrahim also said the Merdeka Center survey showed that Malay sentiment against the ruling coalition was likely to cause only a 7.9% swing in the May 9 polls.

Malay voters constitute 62% of voters in the country, scattered across 120 parliamentary seats. Out of the 222 parliamentary seats, 117 are bumiputra seats in rural areas.

He said if Barisan hopes to maintain the status quo, they need to secure at least 95 seats in Peninsular Malaysia.

“At this time, we estimate their support level at 53% of the Malay vote,” Ibrahim added.

According to him, Merdeka Center estimates that Barisan would require 47.5% of Malay support to win the 95 seats.

“So, right now, they have a 5.5 percentage point surplus (of Malay support) nationwide. They (Barisan) still have the majority of the Malay vote,” he said, adding that this was despite dwindling support in a few states.

If Pakatan were to clinch the election, Merdeka Center estimates that it would need to win 100 seats in the peninsula.

Ibrahim said the Opposition needs to attain 34% of support from Malay voters, assuming non-Malay support stays the same.

“Right now, they have 20% of the Malay support. That is 14 percentage points short of the 34% target,” he explained.

Basically, over the next 10 days of campaigning, all the resources of both Barisan and Pakatan will be used on the Malay electorate – those who will decide the winner of the general election.

In the 2013 general election, there were 30 Chinese majority seats or 13.5% of the parliamentary seats, according to a recent news report, quoting social media analytics firm Politweet.

But another group, Tindak Malaysia, has claimed that the number of Chinese majority seats has dropped to 24. There is also another stark fact – even without the redelineation exercise, the number of Chinese voters has continued to shrink sharply.

Barisan doesn’t need Bangla­deshis to help it win the elections, as some would like to suggest, because all it needs is PAS – as the spoiler – and the rural Malay votes.

Anyone attempting to look at the small margins of the last elections must consider that these tiny majorities, in many instances, were the result of PAS members supporting the Opposition pact of 2013.

But this time, instead of voting for Pakatan, PAS members will likely vote for their Islamist party instead, which will be contesting in 140 parliamentary seats.

Those who have written PAS off haven’t spoken to their die-hard supporters, who still flood the rallies in huge numbers.

It can’t be ignored that our first-past-the-post system isn’t based on popular votes. The redelineation exercise will have an impact.

The multi-cornered fights will play into the hands of mainly Barisan, although they could also backfire in some parliamentary constituencies.

If the Malay votes are split, then Barisan must depend on the non-Malay votes. But if these minority communities back the Opposition, then the coalition will have it tough.

In locations with up to seven contenders, the slugfest will be even more intense as crucial votes could be snatched from both Barisan and Pakatan.

Another potential disruptive factor for both coalitions is sabotage by sulking members who have either been dropped or not selected to contest.

Driven by analysis and public opinion, though, the grand summation is a familiar one – Pakatan will struggle to unseat Barisan.

straitstimes.com | 27-Apr-2018 – PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Ruling coalition Barisan Nasional will prevail in Malaysia’s upcoming general election despite growing Malay sentiment against it, pollster Merdeka Center revealed in its latest survey.

The survey showed that Malay sentiment against BN is likely to cause a 7.9 per cent swing in the May 9 polls.

According to Mr Ibrahim, Malays make up 62 per cent of voters in Malaysia, with 117 of the country’s 222 parliamentary seats having a majority of Malay voters.

If BN hopes to maintain its status quo – it won 133 seats in the last election in 2013 – it will need to secure at least 95 seats in Peninsular Malaysia, said Mr Ibrahim. The Merdeka Center estimates BN would require 47.5 per cent of Malay support to win the 95 seats.

“At this time, we estimate their support level at 53 per cent of the Malay vote,” said Mr Ibrahim. “So right now they have a 5.5 percentage points surplus (of Malay support) nationwide,” said Mr Ibrahim.

“They (Barisan) still have the majority of the Malay vote,” he said, adding that this was despite a fall in support in some states.

Meanwhile the pollster says opposition pact Pakatan Harapan will need 100 seats in Peninsular Malaysia to win the election.

They need to attain 34 per cent of support from Malay voters, assuming that their non-Malay support base does not change, he said.

“Right now, they have 20 per cent of the Malay support. That is 14 percentage points (ppts) short of the 34 per cent target,” said Mr Ibrahim.

If Parti Islam Semalaysia (PAS), the third faction in the election battle, wants to be “king-maker” in the event neither BN nor PH gain a clear majority, Merdeka Centre estimates the Islamist party will need to win 20 seats in Peninsular Malaysia.

“They are not counting on the non-Malay votes at all, they get only support from the Malay voters,” said Mr Ibrahim.

“We estimate that their support right now is 27 per cent of the Malay voters, and they need 39.5 per cent to cross the line. That’s 12.5 percentage points short,” he said.

Mr Ibrahim said that despite the decline in overall support for BN compared to previous elections, the opposition still falls short of garnering the votes they need to win Malaysia’s 14th election.

“If the opposition cannot get the support they need, this could be fatal come election day,” said Mr Ibrahim.

He said that the split in opposition votes – between PH and PAS – may have prompted some undecided voters to go back to voting for BN.

“BN will prevail despite a lower vote share,” he concluded.

The survey was conducted among 1,206 voters across all states of Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak through telephone interviews between April 3 and 9.

Respondents were selected through random stratified sampling by ethnicity, age, gender and Parliamentary constituency.

malaysiakini.com | 24-Nov-2017 – A survey of 1,203 voters has suggested that Malaysians are experiencing economic distress amidst strong macroeconomic growth numbers.

“The survey also indicates that between one to two out of every 10 Malaysians are cutting back on essentials, such as food, in order to make ends meet,” Merdeka Center said in a statement today.

However, survey found that there were slight improvements, based on seven economic stress indicators, since a similar survey was conducted in January.

Fifteen percent of the respondents said they skipped meals to make ends meet, up two percent from January.

One in five respondents said they have taken on new debts in the form of personal loans or charging of credit cards while 11 percent they had to pawn off their possessions.

“Fifteen percent of the respondents reported having encountered new conflicts with the family, a two percent increase compared to January 2017,” said the pollster.

Meanwhile, 29 percent of respondents did not have RM500 in emergency funds, down 33 percent from the previous survey.

Nearly two-thirds of the respondents “felt stressed” when thinking about the future, while 40 percent said they had problems paying their utility bills on time.

Overall, Merdeka Center said, the data showed that economic issues – rising cost of living, economic hardship and jobs, among others – were the topmost concern for 72 percent of the voters surveyed.

The internally-funded survey was conducted between Nov 4 and 14.

The 1,203 respondents were selected on the basis of random stratified sampling, with age, ethnicity, gender and locality also taken into account.

themalaysiainsight.com | 24-Nov-2017 – DESPITE improving headline economic data, the signs of distress are still being felt by a sizeable number of Malaysians.

Some 15% of Malaysians skip meals to make ends meet and about 27% do not have RM500 for an emergency, a survey said today.

The Merdeka Center survey, conducted between November 4 and 14, involved 1,203 registered voters.

Commenting on the results, Ibrahim Suffian, the centre’s director said: “In our opinion, the survey conveys a picture of a Malaysian electorate that was largely affected by rising costs and feeling some levels of distress in spite of the strong macroeconomic growth numbers.

“The survey also indicates between one and two out of every 10 Malaysians are cutting back on essentials, such as food, to make ends meet.”

The survey shows a slight improvement in sentiments compared with January 2017 but some of its key findings include:

* 29% of respondents reporting that they did not possess a minimum of RM500 of savings to address any emergency, compared with 33% in January;

* 64% felt stressed thinking about the future, compared with 68% in January;

* 40% delayed or unable to make payments on utility bills, such as electricity and telephone bills, the same percentage in January;

* 20% took on new debt (in the form of personal loans or charging of credit cards), which is a 2% increase compared with January;

* 15% encountered new conflict with the family or a 2% increase compared with January 2017;

* 15% skipped meals in order to make ends meet – the same in January; and

* 11% who report needing to sell or pawn off possessions in order to meet expenses – this figure is 1% higher compared with January 2017.

The Merdeka Center survey to gauge voters’ perceptions of current developments involved 1,203 registered voters comprising 52% Malay, 29% Chinese, 7% Indian, 6% Muslim Bumiputera, 6% non- Muslim Bumiputera (from Sabah and Sarawak) and interviewed via fixed line and mobile telephones. – November 24, 2017

themalaysiainsight.com | 19-May-2017 – SHAFIE Apdal has several things going for him in his bid to score big in the next elections: young voters in Sabah rate him the highest among politicians in the state and he has a good standing among Muslim voters.

But there are two red flags for the former Umno leader who hopes to deliver the knockout blow to his former party in GE14.

No. 1: despite criss-crossing the state and holding rallies from October until early April, non-Muslim Bumiputeras and Chinese voters are still undecided about him.

No. 2: much work lies ahead for ‎Parti Warisan Sabah. Some 40% of Sabah voters gave the party a negative rating, while 28% viewed the newcomer positively. The rest did not have an opinion about the party.

Shafie has been drawing large crowds where ever he speaks in Sabah and he has gone on record to say that the voters in the Borneo state were ready for change. The survey did pick up the sense of restlessness and unhappiness over several issues but it was also clear that Sabahans were not inspired by the performance of the opposition.

Much work lies ahead for Shafie and his ilk before they can start talking about regime change.

This was borne out by the fact that individual Sabah BN leaders and their parties continued to enjoy high ratings.

Sabah opposition leader Jeffrey Kitingan said a reason for Sabahans’ dim view of opposition parties was their disunity and the fact that they contested against each other.

Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) veteran Joseph Pairin Kitingan enjoyed the highest favourability rating among the politicians named in the survey. About 55% of those polled viewed him positively as opposed to 29% who did not.

Joseph was liked by a broad cross section of Sabah’s many communities and faiths from Muslims to non-Muslims, said Merdeka Center executive director Ibrahim Suffian.

Chief Minister Musa Aman had a 50% favourability rating drawn mostly from the Muslim Bumiputera community, women and rural voters.

Umno and PBS, the two largest parties in Sabah, attracted the highest favourability rating among voters, indicating the loyal party base that they have accumulated over the decades, said Ibrahim.

Warisan’s leader Shafie had an overall favourability rating of 42%. Among Muslim Bumiputeras, his favourability ratings are at 54%, which is likely because of his stature as a top Umno leader.

“But a large proportion of non-Muslim Bumiputeras and Chinese Sabahans have not formed an opinion of him,” said Ibrahim.

“It should be noted that Shafie also attracts the highest level of favourability among younger Sabah voters – with 62% of 20-year-olds expressing positive attitudes towards him.”

Despite the results, Warisan deputy chief Darell Leiking was cautiously optimistic that his party would still make an impact in the general election.

“The turnouts at our programmes are very encouraging throughout Sabah, especially on the east coast,” Leiking told The Malaysian Insight.

“If we can form a united front in the general elections, with one-to-one contests against BN (Barisan Nasional), we could have a chance of taking over the state,” said Jeffrey, the Sabah Reform Party president, who was viewed favourably by 39% of those polled.

Other findings of the survey include:

• Umno has the highest overall favourability rating among all political parties where 50% of those polled saw it positively compared with 42% who saw it negatively;
• PBS was the second favourite with a positive rating of 49% versus a negative of 36%;
• Warisan received a negative rating among 40% of those polled while 28% viewed them positively. However, about one third of those surveyed had no opinion of the new party. Nearly half (48%) of young voters saw it in positive light;
• DAP, which has the most number of seats among opposition parties was positively received by the Chinese community at 57%;
• PKR had net negative ratings across all age groups, communities, income brackets and occupations – meaning more respondents viewed it negatively than positively. – May 19, 2017

themalaysiainsight.com | 18-May-2017 – A KEY assumption that has underpinned Barisan Nasional’s (BN) GE14 plans is dangerously faulty, with a recent survey showing that voters in the “fixed deposit” state of Sabah are a restless and unhappy lot.

If elections were held today, there is a good chance that BN candidates will not be able to replicate the success they achieved at the state and parliamentary levels in 2013.

But the survey also shows that it will be a tall order for the opposition to take control of the state in the 14th general election, with a majority of voters being unimpressed ‎with their performance to date.

The survey commissioned by The Malaysian Insight and  carried out this month by Merdeka Center involved 905 voters, covering all age groups and demographics.

These are among the key findings:

•  some 52% of the respondents were dissatisfied with the state government;
• some 49% of the respondents believed that Malaysia was headed in the wrong direction, with their primary concern being the cost of living and lingering unhappiness over the goods and services tax (GST);
• some 66% of respondents were unhappy with the economic situation in Sabah;
• some 56% of those surveyed said they were feeling the economic crunch;
• nearly 70% of respondents also wanted greater autonomy for Sabah to run its finances and administration. They didn’t want separation from the federation, just more independence from Putrajaya;
• Sabah voters continue to have grave concerns about illegal immigrants and want this issue debated fully in the run-up to the polls.

These findings provide a picture of a population with festering grievances and far away from the ideal of the fixed deposit vote bank painted by ruling coalition politicians. ‎

Sabah BN contributes 23 parliamentary seats to the BN’s 134-seat majority in the Dewan Rakyat. BN strategists expect GE14 to be a much closer contest and are predicting a BN victory but with its parliamentary majority slashed to between 122 and 128 seats.

These calculations assume that Sabah BN will do as well as it did in the general elections in 2013.

A key decision for Prime Minister Najib Razak to make before the polls is whether to allow Musa Aman to continue as the Sabah chief minister.

Sabah voters appear to be split on Musa’s performance with 45% saying the was satisfied and the same amount giving him the thumbs down.

But despite the Sabah’s government mediocre ratings, its diverse opposition should not be celebrating. Only 26% of those polled viewed them positively while 48% were dissatisfied with their performance.

Touching on the greater demand for autonomy among Sabahans, Ibrahim Suffian, the executive director of Merdeka Center, noted that it was interesting that while wanting more say in policy-making and finances, they still wanted to be part of Malaysia.

This sentiment suggested that the Sabah voter had little confidence in putting their future in the hands of local leaders.

Dr Zaini Othman of University Malaya Sabah said the support for autonomy is actually a demand for Putrajaya to fulfil its promises under the 20-point Malaysia Agreement 1963.

Among the promises are that the Sabah civil service be dominated by natives of the state, that Sabah raise its own taxes and manage its own finances and that the education system be under the control of the state government.

It remains unclear if regional parties which are campaigning on the autonomy platform, such as Sabah Progressive Party, State Reform Party and Shafie Apdal’s Parti Warisan Sabah ‎will be able to tap into the well of restiveness among voters.

The survey findings suggest that they will have a responsive audience to their call of Sabah for Sabahans. – May 18, 2017.

Malaysiakini.com | KUALA LUMPUR, 08-May-2016 — Majority of Malaysians are concerned about climate change and dissatisfied with the government’s efforts in managing it, a Merdeka Center survey has shown.

The survey, which was conducted in December 2016, showed that 81 per cent of Malaysians expressed worry about climate change, even as 2016 was the hottest year ever recorded at 1.1 degree Celsius above the pre-industrial revolution average.

“When asked about their satisfaction with the government’s handling of climate change, only 37.5 per cent of respondents report satisfaction while close to one-half (49.7 per cent) expressed dissatisfaction,” Merdeka Center said in a statement.

“The survey found that Bumiputera respondents were more likely to be satisfied with the government efforts while those with higher education and incomes were more dissatisfied,” the polling outfit added.

According to Merdeka Center, the survey showed that respondents with a higher income, college education and those aged above 40 years old were more concerned about climate change compared to their peers.

Even though 70 per cent of respondents believed that climate change was caused by human activities, a significant minority at 22 per cent thought that climate change was a result of natural causes. However, scientists blame global warming on human activity.

“Malaysians were also split when assessing their own personal efforts at protecting the environment with 38.9 per cent of the respondents claimed they had done enough while 42.5 per cent of the respondents claimed they had not done enough,” Merdeka Center said.

Merdeka Center’s survey respondents believed climate change would damage forest and plants (21. 2 per cent), increase the severity of storms (20.7 per cent), increase droughts and water shortages (17.1 per cent), lead to rising sea levels and shoreline erosion (14.2 per cent), and harm wildlife and destroy habitats (11.1 per cent).

Almost two-thirds of respondents, or 64.2 per cent, said they felt the weather had become more unstable over the past three years.

A total of 65.3 per cent perceived the temperature in Malaysia to be higher compared to three years ago.

The survey was carried out by Merdeka Center between December 18 and 29 last year, with a total of 1,208 respondents being interviewed via fixed line and mobile telephones.

Respondents were selected on the basis of random stratified sampling along age group, ethnicity, gender and geographical location including the peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak.

The survey comprised 50 per cent Malay, 30 per cent Chinese, 8 per cent Indian, 6 per cent Muslim Bumiputra and 6 per cent non-Muslim Bumiputera respondents.

Malaysia is one of the 195 countries that adopted The Paris Agreement, an international legally binding treaty for post-2020 climate action.

The Paris Agreement calls for capping global warming at well below two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), and 1.5 C (2.7 F) if possible, compared with pre-industrial levels.

Last year, The Star reported that Malaysia pledged to cut greenhouse emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 and has introduced measures such as developing carbon-neutral cities, tax incentives to companies which report and limit their emissions, procuring more environmentally-friendly government assets and planting 13 million new trees since 2011.

The daily quoted Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar saying that the country is poised to cut another 32 million tonnes from its carbon emissions by 2020.

– See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/malaysians-worried-about-climate-change-survey-shows-after-earths-hottest-y#sthash.62xmwkax.dpuf

Malay Mail Online | KUCHING, 20-April-2016 : The approval rating for Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem from voters in the state has increased 13 per cent ahead of the 11th state election scheduled on May 7.

Independent pollster Merdeka Center’s most recent survey on Adenan shows that his popularity rose from 74 per cent in April last year to 81 per cent in January this year.

The survey was carried out by the Merdeka Center for Opinion Research from Jan 20 to 26, to gauge voters’ perceptions of current development in the Sarawak in the lead-up to the state elections.

The positive rating is across all segments of the society among all the state’s major races.

He received the highest approval rating of 90 per cent among Muslim Bumiputera, 85 per cent among non-Muslim Bumiputera and 71 per cent among the Chinese, a four per cent increase compared to the last survey.

Generally, since becoming chief minister in Feb 2014, he has been well accepted across the board by voters from all age groups and all strata of life – the high income earners and the minimum wage labourers as well as the highly educated and those with only primary education.

Adenan is also perceived to be a game changer as 75 per cent of the respondents believed that he has brought about significant changes to Sarawak since taking over the administration of the state.

The new policy which has been given the highest approval rating is Adenan’s announcement of English as an official language besides Bahasa Malaysia, with an average acceptance of 83 per cent across all races.

The recognition of Unified Examinations Certificate comes second as Adenan’s most popular new policy. The Chinese community as expected gave a high rating of 83 per cent. And surprisingly, the Bumiputera community both Muslim and non-Muslim also give strong support, resulting in an average acceptance rating of 68 per cent.

Adenan’s third popular policy is the permission for Christians to use Allah in their worship and prayers, earning him an approval rating of 71 per cent from the non-Muslim Bumiputera respondents.

On social and infrastructure development and changes brought about by Adenan, 33 per cent of the respondents praised him for the abolishment of toll, while 18 per cent gave him the thumbs-up for the increase of new infrastructure such as highway and bridges and 13 per cent took note of Adenan’s anti-illegal logging initiative.

These are some of the results of Sarawak State Voter Opinion Survey 2016 conducted by Merdeka Center from January 20 to 26 this year on 815 voters who were selected through random stratified sampling method along the lines of ethnicity, gender, age, parliamentary constituencies and state assembly seats.

Meanwhile, on the performance of opposition leaders in general, 36 per cent of the respondents expressed satisfaction while 47 per cent found their performance unsatisfactory.

On individual leaders, the poll results showed that 31 per cent of survey participants were happy with state PKR chief Baru Bian while 27 per cent were dissatisfied, with 40 per cent expressing ‘unsure’ to the question.

State DAP chief Chong Chieng Jen received a slightly higher approval rating of 36 per cent while 27 per cent of respondents were also not happy with Chong’s performance and 35 per cent of them were ‘unsure’ of Chong’s performance.

In general, 56 per cent believed that there should be a stronger opposition in Sarawak while 32 per cent disagreed. However, a point to be noted is that 24 per cent of the respondents ‘refused’ to make a stance when posed the question.

Merdeka Center estimated a plus minus survey margin of error of 3.43 per cent. Of those participating in the survey, 55 per cent enjoyed internet access.

On the same survey, Sarawak state government was given 62 per cent approval rating – a decrease of six per cent compared to the 2015 survey.

Malay Mail Online | KUALA LUMPUR, 19-April-2016 ― In the countdown to the May 7 election, a whopping 81 per cent of Sarawakians surveyed across the board by the Merdeka Center have given the thumbs up for Tan Sri Adenan Satem as their chief minister.

The independent pollster said its survey, conducted from 20-26 January this year, showed higher ratings for Adenan, compared to a previous poll in April 2015 where he only had 74 per cent approval from the public.

Adenan is seeking a mandate for the state Barisan Nasional (BN) in his first election as CM after succeeding the office mid-term in February two years ago.

The survey also found that Sarawakians of all colours approved of Adenan’s leadership, with over 90 per cent of Muslim Bumiputera, followed by 85 per cent of non-Muslim Bumiputera and 71 per cent ethnic Chinese.

According to Merdeka Centre, many Sarawakians found Adenan to have “brought significant change” since he took over as chief minister in February 2014.

One of the policies Adenan introduced that got him the most accolades was returning “English as the official language in Sarawak together with Bahasa Malaysia” which almost 83 per cent of Sarawakians agreed with.

His efforts to recognise the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) also gained him support from 19 per cent of ethnic Chinese voters from the total of 68 per cent who agreed with the policy.

Adenan’s decision to allow Sarawak Christians the right to use the Arabic word “Allah” to refer to their God ― which some Muslims claim to be exclusive to Islam ― was also well received among those polled, with 53 per cent supporting the chief minister’s assurance made in March 2014.

Other systemic issues which Adenan has also addressed in his tenure as state chief has also swayed votes onto his side like his awareness towards more infrastructure projects, addressing the illegal logging issues and providing more welfare for the low income groups, the poll concluded.

Merdeka Centre also found 33 per cent or one-third of those polled applauding Adenan’s decision to abolish road toll charges in several locations in Sarawak.

Despite the high ratings however, Merdeka Center said its survey results might “not necessarily translate” to votes for BN in the state polls.

This is because Merdeka Center found that the positive outcomes contributing to Adenan’s approval might differ according to various voter segments.

“For example within certain quarters of the Sarawak Chinese electorate, the delivery of policy changes and improvements may be attributed to the effort of opposition parties such as the DAP.

“Meanwhile Bumiputera voters are likely going to attribute improvements to the BN on account of its continued presence in their communities,” it said in an accompanying statement.

Past surveys by Merdeka Center showed a change in respondents’ sentiments from May 2012 when 56 per cent felt Sarawak was moving towards the wrong direction, to 59 per cent in December 2013 who felt the state was headed in the right direction, but the later view slid to 56 per cent last April.

In the latest survey, 815 registered voters from all 82 state seats to be contested in the Sarawak election were interviewed through fixed line and mobile telephones.

Based on the latest electoral roll gazetted last December, a total of 1,141,294 people are eligible to vote in the Sarawak polls, including 14,000 and 9,500 from the armed forces and the police respectively.