- MalaysianDigest.com, Friday, 21 February 2014
PIC: The Malay MailKUALA LUMPUR:
Soaring living costs and abuse of power are likely to swing more votes
towards the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) than the Barisan Nasional (BN)
coalition’s annual cash handouts in the Kajang by-election, a survey of
the state seat showed today.
In the Universiti Malaya Centre for
Elections and Democracy (Umcedel) survey released today, 69 per cent of
576 Kajang voters said price hikes would influence more people to
support PR, with 21 per cent disagreeing while 10 per cent said they
were uncertain.
The figures of those who agreed were
consistently high for the Chinese and Indian respondents at 76 per cent
and 74 per cent and the Malay respondents at 62 per cent.
Unexpectedly, the living cost concerns
were shared among all income groups, with 82 per cent of respondents
drawing monthly paycheques between RM5,001 and RM10,000, saying they
would cast their support for PR if prices rose further.
Eighty per cent of those earning between
RM3,001 and RM5,000 as well as those earning between RM2,001 and
RM3,000, also said they would back PR.
When unveiling the survey’s results
today, Umcedel director Prof Dr Mohammad Redzuan Othman highlighted
university students and civil servants as the groups with the highest
concern for inflation at 82 per cent and 79 per cent.
For socioeconomic issues, the rise in
house prices weighed heavily on the minds of those polled at 83 per
cent, while 79 per cent and 77 per cent were concerned about the rising
crime rate and illegal immigrants, followed by unemployment and social
problems at 69 per cent.
While money was a key factor that could
aid PR in drawing voters, the federal government’s annual cash handout
to low-income households — Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia (BR1M) — is not
likely to win the BN federal coalition more support, the survey showed.
Those who said BR1M and other forms of
financial assistance from BN would boost their support for the coalition
stood at only 33 per cent.
In comparison, those who said “no” was 59 per cent.
An overwhelming 71 per cent of the
Chinese polled said they would not be swayed, while 53 per cent and 34
per cent of the Malays and Indians polled gave a similar answer.
This contrasted against 53 per cent of
the Indian community and 38 per cent and 22 per cent of the Malay and
Chinese voters agreeing that they will support BN more after getting
financial aid.
For individuals who earned less than
RM3,000 monthly—potential recipients of BR1M, 56 per cent of Indians
with such wages said their support towards BN would rise, while 42 per
cent and 24 per cent of the Malays and Chinese polled said the same.
On the other hand, 68 per cent of
Chinese respondents below the RM3,000 mark said their support for BN
would not increase despite BR1M, followed by 48 per cent and 28 per cent
from the Malay and Indian community.
Another key issue that could bring in
more votes for PR is abuse of power, with 65 per cent saying that it
would lead to support for the pact, while 17 per cent disagreed.
Mohammad also pointed out that 70 per
cent of civil servants would support PR because of the power abuse
observed, while 21 per cent disagreed and nine per cent said they were
uncertain.
The most important service and
infrastructure issues for the Kajang voters polled was traffic jams and
parking at 68 per cent, followed closely by maintenance of drains and
waste collection at 67 per cent.
The Umcedel survey was carried out from February 14 to 15.
The proportion of the survey’s
respondents were matched against the actual demographics ratio —
including race, education level, housing area, occupation and income
level of the Kajang electorate in all 16 voting districts, Umcedel said.
PKR’s Lee Chin Cheh resigned as Kajang
assemblyman in January, without giving any reason, triggering a
by-election which will be held on March 23, with nominations scheduled
for March 11.
The Kajang constituency is 48 per cent Malay, 41 per cent Chinese and 10 per cent Indian.
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