Report: Research finds Malay support for Pakatan in Selangor at all-time low

KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 — A recent survey has reportedly found that the Malay community’s support for Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition in Selangor has dropped and is at all-time low to just 27 per cent, down from 37 per cent in 2018.

The Malaysian Insight reported local think tank Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research’s study also saying that just 43 per cent of Malay voters wanted PH to continue administering the state, compared to 89 per cent for ethnic Chinese and 61 per cent for ethnic Indians.

“However, other metrics on Selangor Malays such as leadership, state government, economic and public service delivery performance remains positive and on the uptrend,” Merdeka Centre was quoted saying.

Overall, 59 per cent of respondents still want PH to remain in Selangor.

In 2018, PH had won 51 out of 56 state seats there. PH currently holds 41 seats, with Parti Pejuang Tanah Air holding three, Perikatan Nasional (PN) seven, and Barisan Nasional (BN) five.

However, just 55 per cent of respondents said they were satisfied with the state government, compared to 75 per cent in 2018.

Pakatan Rakyat, which had PAS as part of the pact, had received a 42 per cent of support of Malay voters back in 2013.

With the latest rating, Merdeka Center said PH may still retain the state in a three-way battle against PN and BN.

“But PH in Selangor must show more effort in addressing economic pressures by boosting its presence in job creation and upskilling matters.

“It must also intensify efforts to redirect investments and invigorate economic activity,” it said.

Merdeka Centre said Malay, Chinese and Indian support for PN was 44.2 per cent, 6.1 per cent and 14.9 per cent, respectively.

For BN, Merdeka Centre estimates that the support among Malays, Chinese and Indians to be at 28.8 per cent, 4.1 per cent and 27.6 per cent respectively.

The voter perception survey of Selangor voters was carried out from March 16 to March 24 and involved 1,141 respondents.

Last month, Merdeka Centre found an increased approval rating for Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, indicating increasing optimism for the PN administration despite the majority of Malaysians still unhappy over the direction of the country.