More Indians will vote opposition in GE14, says Rafizi

PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli says Invoke survey finds Indians a lot more negative on bread and butter issues, suggesting it will lead to a swing away from BN.

KUALA LUMPUR: Rafizi Ramli predicts Indian voters will reject Barisan Nasional (BN) in the next general election (GE14).

Referring to a survey by Invoke, which he heads, the PKR vice-president said the results show that Indians are a lot more negative on bread and butter issues, compared with the other races.

“As a result, I see another round of significant swing away from BN,” he said alluding to a repeat of what happened in the 2008 general election (GE12), that also contributed to BN losing Selangor, Penang and Perak, as well as its two-third parliamentary majority.

Rafizi was speaking at a press conference today to announce the findings of the survey.

He noted that the survey showed that Indians were a blind spot for policymakers and also the public.

The interactive interview phone survey, held for a month from June 10 to July 14, focused on the country’s economic environment, cost of living and the rising costs of goods.

Among the questions asked were as follows:

• if the people felt the country’s economy was on the right track;
• if the family’s economy was better now as compared to four years ago;
• the percentage of increase in people’s expenditure on food and goods;
• the percentage of increase in monthly utility bills;
• the percentage of increase in people’s expenditure on fuel;
• the percentage of increase in spending on other necessities like clothes, school-related expenses.

The survey findings, for instance, showed that a whopping 78% of the Indian community felt that their family’s economic situation was worse off compared with four years ago, and 84% felt that it would become worse next year.

On whether the country’s economy was on the right track, 65% of Indians said it was on the wrong track.

Rafizi also noted that major announcements, such as on the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), and also the Malaysian Indian Blueprint (MIB), have not managed to uplift the sentiment of voters.

“The MIB will not have much impact, as far as Indian voters are concerned,” he said.

On April 23, Prime Minister Najib Razak launched the MIB as an official government document for the development of the Indian community in the country for the next 10 years.

Adding that the Indian community could grow stronger with good leadership, Najib said he did not want the community to be too fragmented in its representation. - FMT