GE15: 43 per cent of voters will make last-minute decision - Survey

SHAH ALAM - Research firm O2 Research Malaysia (O2) found that 43 per cent of Malaysians might make a last minute decision on which candidate or party to vote for in the 15th General Election (GE15) on Nov 19.

Its chief researcher Anis Anwar Suhaimi said the survey conducted by O2 found that the number of fence-sitters have increased 10 per cent compared to GE14 following many supporters of Barisan Nasional (BN) turned their support towards other parties.

He said the study also showed that 28 per cent of the respondents have tendency towards a certain party, but they were still open to voting for other parties.

"Around 51 per cent of fence-sitters are from the same group (below 30 years- old), whereas majority of them are first-time voters.

"Most of them are believed to have difficulty in understanding the country’s political development which got more complicated after GE14," he said.

Such situation which was unclear and with little political exposure had put them in a spot on which party was the best to lead the country for five years to come.

"The number of fence-sitters which have increased showed that one's loyalty has become faded and this posed a challenge to the political parties to maintain the votes," he told Sinar Premium.

However, Anis said the fence-sitters now play a big role in influencing the chances of a coalition to win.

"Their involvement is the same, either they go out and vote or influence the chances of a party to win.

"Due to the unpredictable political attitude, the contesting parties are forced to try hard and not be in the comfort zone.

Anis said among the issues that influence the fence-sitters were political stability, economy and sustainability of the people.

"A party that is able make better offers to the people and tackle public's issues became the main factor (for people to vote).

"Among them (offers) are solving social issues and domestic violence, environmental issues as well as job opportunities for youths," he said.