SHAH ALAM: A survey by Institut Darul Ehsan (IDE) has found that 78.9% of Selangor voters are expected to cast their ballots in the upcoming state election.
The think-tank under the Selangor government found that voter turnout for Pakatan Harapan supporters will be the highest at 86.6%, followed by Barisan Nasional at 72.8%, and Perikatan Nasional at 77.3%.
The survey, which was conducted from May 12-15, was randomly stratified across 1,692 respondents of all races from the 56 state constituencies in Selangor.
Each respondent was met face-to-face and keyed in their responses through IDE’s e-Survey application on a tablet.
The survey also found that 74% of the respondents favoured the Barisan-Pakatan pact, 16% preferred Perikatan, while 10% of respondents were “on the fence”.
As for youth aged 18 to 24 years – which had 267 respondents – 50% supported Barisan-Pakatan, while 18% favoured Perikatan.
According to the survey, 71.1% of Selangor voters have a positive perception of Pakatan, while 74.1% are in favour of the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
IDE chairman Prof Datuk Dr Mohammad Redzuan Othman said there was encouraging support for Anwar, especially among the youth, following his programmes and tours in Selangor, particularly in public higher learning institutions.
“The advantage is that Selangor is near Putrajaya, so Anwar can hold more programmes here compared with other states,” he said.
Anwar’s remarks that he was against a plot to ban Umno had also increased his prestige among Umno supporters, said Mohammad Redzuan.
At a Jelajah Madani event in Guar Chempedak, Kedah last Saturday, Anwar claimed that former prime ministers Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had planned to ban Umno after Pakatan assumed federal power in 2018.
Interesting results: Mohammad Redzuan giving a briefing on the Selangor government’s think-tank survey. — KK SHAM/The Star
Some 26.3% of the respondents in Selangor believe that Anwar is capable of bringing the Malaysia Madani concept and the country to greater heights, while 16.9% believe that he is capable of uniting the various races.
A total of 16.1% respondents believe that he is capable of combating corruption and abuse of power, while 14.1% said he is capable of addressing the rising cost of living issue.
The survey also found that the Barisan-Pakatan coalition was leading in terms of Malay support in the state.
From a total of 978 Malay respondents in the survey, IDE found that 47.6% favoured the Barisan-Pakatan pact, while 27.2% favoured Perikatan.
Polling day for the state elections in Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Penang, Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu is on Aug 12.
Nomination day will be on July 29, while early voting will be on Aug 8.
