A new survey has shown that a mojority of Malaysians just want political parties that fight for the interests of all Malaysians, and not for a particular race or religion.
Commissioned by The Malaysian Insider and carried out by independent pollsters the Merdeka Center, the survey found that 76.9% of respondents said they preferred political parties that were inclusive in nature, and did not only serve the interests of their own community.
67.5% of Malay, 91.4% of Chinese, 89.2% of Indian respondents quereied over the course of the survey aligned themselves with these results.
Only 27.8% of respondents called for political representation along ethnic and religious lines, despite the rise of race-based rhetoric from political parties from both the Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat coalitions, and special interest groups such as Perkasa and ISMA.
“What Barisan Nasional stands for – race-based politics – is growing increasingly out of sync among the electorate. Even among the Malays. It’s only the really hardcore who want race-based politics,” said Ibrahim Suffian, director of the Merdeka Center.
“It is clear from the survey that Barisan Nasional is running behind and that it’s playing catch up with the public, who are open to less race-based parties and want ones that cater for all Malaysians,” he added.
He also said that Malaysian voters were now more savvy in making up their minds before casting their ballots, as they no longer depend solely on the mainstream media for information.
Many Malaysians, according to Ibrahim, are also not ideologically affiliated to any political party, and prefer to judge politicians and their platforms based on merit and actual performance.
63.2% of Malaysians polled are looking for political leaders that stood on a platform of change or reform, as opposed to 25.6% of respondents who want the status quo to be maintained.
Still, the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition still has reason to be comfortable in their seat in Putrajaya, as Malaysians – despite not being comfortable with race-based politics – may still see the BN government as the best choice in the field.
“Their supporters think, ‘yes, I don’t agree with the politics of BN, but it puts food on the table, it gives me jobs, and it prevents the other guys from taking over’. So you’ve got people still voting for them,” said Ibrahim.
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