Malays lukewarm to institutional reforms, cares more about economy - survey

 

Democratic reforms have become part of the political narrative amid talks of a confidence and supply deal between the government and opposition.

The opposition has been weighing the possibility of throwing its support behind Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob if he can offer various democratic reforms as a concession.

However, for Malay voters, which form the largest electoral base in a general election, such issues are not a priority compared to the economy.

According to a survey by Ilham Centre, the Malay community is generally lukewarm towards the proposed reforms and are more concerned about bread- and-butter issues.

The abolition of perceived draconian laws (Prevention of Terrorism Act, Security Offences [Special Measures] Act and Officials Secrets Act) and automatic voter registration only saw slightly more than half of respondents being supportive, at 56 percent and 55 percent respectively.

When presented with a statement that reducing the voting age from 21 to 18 will help nurture democracy, 57 percent of the respondents disagreed while 52 percent also disagreed with a two-term limit for the prime minister.

Some 65 percent were also not supportive of local elections, believing that it will erode Malay representation in urban areas.

“Even though Malays can accept the ideas of institutional reforms, but when contrasted with survival, the latter is more important on the minds of the Malay-Muslim community,” Ilham Centre said in a statement.

The random stratified survey, involving 1,262 respondents from Peninsular Malaysia, was conducted between April 7 and June 11. A focus group was also conducted with 14 groups involving 93 individuals.

The study has a confidence level of 95 percent and a 3.5 percent margin of error.

It should be noted that the timeframe of the survey was before the installation of Ismail Sabri as the prime minister, after which talks of possible reform deals picked up.

When asked what aspect they would like to see reforms the most, economy and education topped the list at 32 percent followed by governance at 27 percent.

Parliament only scored 13 percent, followed by the judiciary at seven percent and others at 12 percent.

Need to understand Malay psyche

Asked about their priorities, the majority of respondents chose issues related to their livelihood.

A total of 31 percent of respondents wanted the issue of poverty and cost of living to be addressed while 29 percent listed economic revival as their priority.

Only 16 percent emphasised the fulfilment of manifesto while 15 percent put corruption at the top of their list. Another eight percent cited institutional reforms relating to government and law.

Ilham Centre said the talk of reform had failed to capture the Malay community’s imagination in part because the communication had not been effective.

It said the reforms had to be conveyed in simple language for people at the grassroots level.

Furthermore, it said the proposed institutional reforms are perceived to be political rather than what the outcome can offer.

“The formulation of the institutional reform agenda needs to take into account the sensitivity of the Malay-Muslim community, particularly if it involved the position of Islam, Malay and bumiputera privileges and the position of the rulers,” it said.

Ilham Centre said if these issues are not addressed, they are unlikely to win support from the Malay community, noble as the intentions may be.

“Anyone who wants the agenda of institutional reforms to succeed must understand the values, culture, norms, demography and psychography to manage the sentiment and win the trust and support of the Malay-Muslim community,” he said. - Mkini