Vast majority of Chinese, Indians still support DAP

 

The results of the survey by Emir Research on Chinese support for political parties are bizarre and beyond imagination.

To state that a quarter of Malaysian Chinese (based on the survey results of 2,000 respondents) support Umno says much about the manner of the research conducted and who the respondents were.

It is bizarre to say that DAP has only 17% of such Chinese support.

The question is: what has Umno done in the recent past to endear itself to the Chinese and what has DAP done to fall out of grace with the Chinese population?

I don’t think anything dramatic has happened to radically alter the perception of the Chinese community towards Umno or DAP.

Umno is still the number one enemy of DAP. In fact, the last general election in 2018 was fought tooth and nail by DAP and its fraternal parties in PH to defeat Umno and BN.

The vast majority of the Chinese threw their weight behind DAP.

The support of the Chinese community for DAP might not be the same as before. However, given the choice between Umno in the BN and DAP in PH, the non-Malays might go along with DAP.

Some sections of the Chinese community might not be happy with DAP or PH for various reasons, but this does not mean they are ready to cast their support for Umno, PPBM and PAS.

I don’t think the Chinese community are ready to put up with extreme racial and religious parties; they might not be happy with PH, but they have not forsaken DAP or PH.

The same thing might be true with the Indian community. In the last general election, they voted overwhelmingly for DAP and PKR in PH.

Like the Chinese, the Indian community might have been disappointed with PH during its short stint in federal power, but they are not ready to forsake DAP or PKR.

In other words, unless there is a major and far-reaching political realignment in Malaysian politics, Chinese and Indians will stick with PH.

Needless to say, these two communities, which have been affected by years of discrimination, might want a much more reinvigorated DAP and PKR in PH.

To talk about the popularity of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin seems another attempt to whitewash his government that has failed to come up with a responsible budget let alone address the Covid-19 pandemic.

Editor’s note: The difference between Chinese support for Umno and DAP in the survey is 8%. Emir Research has clarified that “only when we observe a percentage difference of at least 10% can we conclude that there is a significant difference”.

DAP’s P Ramasamy is Deputy Chief Minister II of Penang. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.