KUALA LUMPUR: A survey by Merdeka Centre For Opinion Research revealed that Pakatan Harapan (PH) has a slight edge over Barisan Nasional (BN) among political coalitions in terms of margin of voters’ preferences.
The survey of 1,209 voters of various ethnicities from 22 parliamentary constituencies was conducted by the Merdeka Centre from Oct 19-28.
In a statement released on the survey, the centre said that respondents WHO supported PH stood at 26 per cent as compared to BN, which trailed behind by a mere two per cent at 24 per cent.
Perikatan Nasional, however was behind these two coalitions in terms of voters’ preference as it garnered 13 per cent.
Meanwhile, Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) and other political coalitions stood at two per cent, each.
However, the majority of respondents were unsure or have no preference. These represented 31 per cent of those polled.
BN, however, leads the overall Malay voters’ preference at 32 per cent with PN trailing at 20 per cent, and PH at 13 per cent. GTA and other political coalitions were at two per cent.
Twenty-nine per cent of Malay voters were unsure or do not have any preference.
“The presence of three significant coalitions with large bases of support as well as uncertainties on likely turnout rates makes it difficult to estimate the outcome in terms of projected number of parliamentary seats,” the research centre said.
“At this point in time, with the lower-than-expected level of Malay voter support for BN, it is possible to imagine that no single coalition will attain a large enough plurality to form a government with just one other party or coalition.”
Merdeka Centre said there is a rising possibility that at least three or more parties or coalitions are needed to cooperate to form a government with a simple majority.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
