UM survey: PKR's public image battered

from Free Malaysia Today - Free and Independent by FMT Team

By G Vinod

PETALING JAYA: PKR and its de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim are suffering from a public confidence crisis, according to a survey.

Read: Muhyiddin: Kalau Pakatan memerintah, negara tidak aman

The survey by Universiti Malaya's Faculty of Literature and Social Science showed that the allegation-riddled PKR polls had an impact on public peception, especially in urban areas.

Involving 1,124 respondents aged between 20 to 50 years of all races, the survey by the faculty's democracy and election research unit was done between Nov 19 and Nov 28.

The survey focused on Klang Valley areas such as Cheras, Bandar Tun Razak, Titiwangsa, Ampang, Bukit Bintang, Subang Jaya, Wangsa Maju dan Lembah Pantai.

Urban areas were chosen because people there were more exposed to the current national political dynamics and were sympathetic to the opposition's cause.

“Selangor and Federal Territory also record the most number of PKR members involved in the party polls. Selangor is currently administered by PKR and the party polls may have have a direct or an indirect impact on the state leadership,” read the survey.

Of those polled, 43% of the respondents said Anwar was still relevent to national politics while 41% thought otherwise. The remaining 16 % were unsure of his political stature.

On whether the internal bickering during the party polls had eroded their confidence in PKR, a whopping 52% of the respondents said it had whereas 29% said it did not. Another 19% were uncertain.

In a follow-up question, the respondents were asked if they had totally lost faith in the party, to which 49% answered in the affirmative, 30% remained optimistic and 21% were unsure.

The survey also revealed that 43% of the respondents had decided against voting for PKR in the next general election while 35% would continue to back it. Another 22% were undecided.

However, the survey stated that 37% of the respondents obtained their information on the party polls from the mainstream media. Only 11.6% referred to the internet while 16.8% of the respondents gathered information from different mediums.

“Though the figures show that PKR is taking a beating in terms of numbers, the party cannot be dismissed as it did not receive any negative numbers above 50%. In addition, the number of fence-sitters is still high.

“Therefore, the performance of all political parties will be the deciding factor before voters cast their ballots come the 13th general election,” stated the survey.