KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5 — A tenth of respondents in Pelangai, Pahang, still rejected the political cooperation between Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the unity government, a survey has shown ahead of the by-election there on Saturday.

According to the survey report titled “Pelangai Memilih: Antara Legasi Dan Perubahan” released today, 10.1 per cent of Pelangai respondents said that they could not accept PH-BN while another 9.4 per cent said they were unsure or did not care.

However, 42.9 per cent said PH-BN was in line with the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong’s advice while 26.1 per cent said the cooperation was important for political stability and 11.5 per cent said it still required further explanations.

When asked whether the unity government should be maintained until the end of the term, almost half (48.9 per cent) said yes while 1.9 per cent indicated strong agreement. Another 21.9 per cent disagreed while 8.1 per cent indicated strong disagreement.

Meanwhile, residents of the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) settlement in Sungai Kemasul mainly disagreed with maintaining the state government with 17.76 per cent indicating dissatisfaction. A further 6.54 per cent signalled strong dissatisfaction.

On the other hand, Sungai Gapoi’s residents were mainly satisfied with the Pahang state government as 71.43 per cent indicated satisfaction and 21.43 per cent said they felt strong satisfaction.

The survey was carried out by academics in Pelangai, Pahang from September 29 to October 2 ahead of the by-election there this Saturday. It had 1,772 respondents.

About a quarter (25.4 per cent) of respondents were aged 31 to 40, 21.05 per cent were aged 41 to 50, 18.74 per cent from the ages of 21 to 30, 11.68 per cent aged 61 and above, and 8.07 per cent were between the ages of 18 and 20.

About 86.9 per cent of respondents were Malay, while 10.5 per cent were ethnic Chinese and the remaining were ethnic Indians.

Around 22.69 per cent of respondents were unemployed, 20.88 per cent worked in businesses, 20.03 per cent were farmers or fishermen, 14.39 per cent students, 13.71 per cent worked in the private sector, 5.98 per cent worked in the government and 2.31 per cent were retired.

More than half of the respondents (52 per cent) had a monthly income between RM1,500 and RM3,000, while 37.9 per cent earned between RM1,001 and RM1,500.

The survey was carried out by Shahrill Sabarudin, Universiti Malaya’s Awang Azman Awang Pawi, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Novel Anak Lyndon and Suffian Mansor, and Nasrullah Mappatang.

The Pelangai by-election was called following the death of incumbent assemblyman Datuk Seri Johari Harun, 53, in a plane crash in Shah Alam, Selangor on August 17.

This Saturday, BN candidate Datuk Amizar Abu Adam will be facing a three-cornered fight against former Umno member Haslihelmy DM Zulhasli and PAS’ Kasim Samat, a teacher.

Haslihelmy was sacked from Umno following his decision to contest in Pelangai while Kasim had previously contested the Pelangai seat in the 15th General Election held last year.

In GE15, Johari who represented BN, won with a 4,048-vote majority to defeat Kasim, PH’s Ahmed Wafiuddin and Pejuang candidate Isa Ahmad.

Johari’s predecessor Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob held the Pelangai state seat from 1986 to 2022 and was the Pahang menteri besar from 1999 to 2018.

The composition of Pahang state assembly seats after GE15 saw BN and Perikatan Nasional each have 17 seats while PH won eight seats.

The Pahang government was formed after BN and PH teamed up at the state level, to reflect the cooperation at the federal level.