BN supporters want Umno to remain in PN govt, for now – survey
(Malaysiakini) – A survey has found that most BN supporters want Umno to remain a part of the current Perikatan Nasional-led government.
The survey conducted by pollster Merdeka Center found that 54 percent of respondents, who self-identified themselves as BN supporters, disagreed when asked whether Umno should pull out of the government, as opposed to 35 percent who agreed.
However, these preferences flipped when the respondents were asked whether Umno should “go alone” in the next general election.
This time, 49 percent of BN supporters agreed that Umno should go alone, as opposed to 39 percent who disagreed. Such an outcome could result in contests between Umno and Bersatu candidates.
In contrast, Pakatan Harapan supporters largely voted in favour of the ruling coalition’s fragmentation in both questions, while Perikatan Nasional (PN) supporters voted against it.
The survey comes amid tensions among Umno, PAS and Bersatu over their present cooperation and future direction.
Previously, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi revealed that 143 out of 191 Umno divisions (74.8 percent) don’t want to cooperate with Bersatu in the next election.
PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan has warned against being dragged into the squabbles between Umno and Bersatu.
The Merdeka Center survey involved 1,202 respondents aged 21 years and above, who were interviewed by telephone over a nine-day period from Dec 23 to Dec 31 last year.
The centre said it covered a representative population from each of all 222 parliamentary constituencies in the country and has a margin of error of ±2.83 percent. The study was self-funded by the Merdeka Center itself.
As a whole, 44 percent of the respondents disagreed that Umno should withdraw from the PN-led government, as opposed to 31 percent who agreed.
Respondents were also mixed on whether Umno should contest the 15th general election alone – 41 percent disagreed while 39 percent agreed.
Merdeka Center noted that when it comes to the Malay electorate – which forms the core of Umno, PAS and Bersatu supporters – 51 percent disagreed with the suggestion that Umno should go alone in the next general election, as opposed to 36 percent who agreed.
As to whether Umno should withdraw from the present government, 61 percent of Malays disagreed, as opposed to 21 percent who agreed.
“In our view, PN’s dominance among the Malay electorate will be negatively affected should Umno decide to go it alone and along with it, cast uncertainty as to the outcome if elections were held.
“Should this scenario realise itself, it may create conditions similar to the 2018 general election where Malay voters were split three-ways in multi-corner contests,” Merdeka Center said in a press release.
The pollster did not disclose the breakdown of respondents who identified themselves as Harapan, BN or PN supporters. It also did not provide a breakdown of the responses of Malay voters by political inclination.
