PKR confident of voter support, questions timing of UM survey

Despite the doomsayers, Pakatan will still target Putrajaya

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

PKR leaders were unfazed by a Universiti Malaya opinion poll that found a drop in voter confidence against their party, saying they were confident of their supporters and that surveys depended very much on the way answers to questions were deliberately solicited.

“We would not dare to be so arrogant as to ignore public views but if Prime Minister Najib Razak believes in this poll, he should call for immediate snap general elections,” PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

“What PKR will do is to to take the findings with an open heart and use it as an indicator to improve itself. We are fully aware of our weaknesses and one reason for our recent ‘noisy’ direct elections was to weed out the Trojan horses creating trouble in PKR. That is the first step. Of course, our enemies will try to use this poll to their own benefit, but true PKR supporters will know our core is now stronger than before. No matter what the criticism, no one can be as bad as Umno and BN. These parties are all using the excuse of imminent general elections to postpone their internal polls and cling to power.”

According to a Malaysian Insider news report, a recent Universiti Malaya opinion poll found that 43 per cent of residents in PKR stronghold areas would no longer support the party in the next general election.

The reason they gave was declining in confidence in PKR because of its divisive and hotly contested internal polls last month, which saw the departure of former Umno lawyer Zaid Ibrahim who inflicted maximum damage on PKR’s image before Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim finally booted him out. Other leaders in Zaid’s clique who left include fallen tycoon Soh Chee Wen and Salehuddin Hashim.

There is widespread speculation the Zaid group plans to form a new party to act as a spoiler for BN during the next general elections, which must be held by 2013 at the latest, although the current thinking is that Najib will call for snap polls in March or April 2011.

It is the people's right to decide - fair and square

Tian - PKR remains focused

In the survey conducted by University Malaya’s Democratic Research and Elections Centre, a mere 35 per cent of respondents said they would continue to vote for PKR while 22 per cent claimed they were unsure.

The UM poll was conducted during the PKR’s historic one-member one-vote internal elections held last month. It sought the opinion of 1,124 respondents aged between 20 and 50 from opposition strongholds of Cheras, Bandar Tun Razak, Titiwangsa, Ampang, Bukit Bintang, Subang Jaya, Wangsa Maju and Lembah Pantai.

The poll found that 52 per cent of respondents agreed that PKR’s internal strife had affected their confidence in the party and Anwar while only 29 per cent thought otherwise. The remaining 19 per cent said they were unsure.

The UM survey also found that confidence in Anwar, the PKR de-facto head, had eroded - with 43 per cent saying he was politically relevant while 41 per cent claimed otherwise. The remaining 16 per cent said they were unsure. However, the report did not provide previous figures for comparisons to be made.

“We are wondering why choose such a time to conduct the survey. Was it commissioned or prodded by the enemies of PKR to do so? Whatever it is, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so let the people decide fair and square - it is their right. I wonder if Umno has the same confidence to say this?” PKR MP for Gopeng Lee Boon Chye told Malaysia Chronicle.