Growing belief in 2-party system

Penang voters will give state seats to Pakatan and parliament seats to BN, survey indicates.

GEORGE TOWN: Voters in Penang are likely to return Pakatan Rakyat to power in the state but give their support to Barisan Nasional in contests for parliament seats.

FMT recently interviewed 20 voters on the island, and 17 of them said they would vote Pakatan candidates for the state assembly and BN candidates for Parliament. Two said they had lost faith in Malaysian politicians and would boycott the election. One said she would choose Pakatan for both the state assembly and Parliament.

The sampling may be too small for the survey result to indicate a general trend, but Gerakan official Thor Teong Gee said it jibed with the findings of his own research. He did not give details.

Furthermore, most of the survey participants said their responses were a fair reflection of feelings among their friends and relatives.

It all boiled down to a growing belief in a two-party system, said one of the respondents, car park supervisor Adrin Michael.

“We should not give wholesome support to anyone,” he said. “That is part of the check and balance equation.”

Thor, a member of the Penang Gerakan liaison committee, said he found it gratifying to note that more and more voters were keen to see Malaysian democracy mature through a two-party system.

He said this ideal could be realised if voters decided to vote for candidates instead of parties. “Voters should select the best candidates from either side.”

BN was hoping that voters would allow it to play a bigger role at state level, he added.

But Jason Ong of PKR’s Penang committee said FMT’s survey findings and Thor’s claim went against sentiments he had detected among voters in his mingling with them.

He said he was confident that Penang voters would give undivided support to Pakatan.

“People are generally fed up of BN,” he said. They will opt for Pakatan candidates in both state and parliamentary contests. I do not see any voter strategically trying to bring about a two-party system by splitting his vote between Barisan and Pakatan.”

There are 40 state seats and 13 parliament seats in Penang. In the last election, Pakatan won 29 state and 11 parliament seats.