4.5 million fence-sitters in GE15 - Survey

SHAH ALAM - A preliminary study by Ilham Centre before the dissolution of Parliament reveals that 21 per cent or about 4.5 million voters especially youths in Malaysia have not decided on which political coalition they will choose in the 15th General Election (GE15).

Fence-sitters known as undecided voters or floating voters were more likely to take the "let's wait and see" approach before making up their minds on whether to vote for Barisan Nasional (BN), Perikatan National (PN), Pakatan Harapan (PH), Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) or other parties in the election.

Ilham Centre executive director Hisommudin Bakar said the study also found that fence-sitters consistently reject and avoid to answer the survey questions specifically especially when asked about the issue of political development in the country.

Hisommudin said majority of the respondents preferred to choose a safe answer when asked questions on politics.

However, he said the number of fence-sitters will usually shrink starting from the nomination day up to the polling day.

"This group too will take into account of various factors before deciding which political party to choose.

"Among the factors are the type of offers or guarantees which were in their favour and interests.

"That is why in the Ilham Center study, we put an indicator of what are the voters' "desire" and what they want the new ruling coalition to prioritise.

"Among the things which are important for fence-sitters are economic recovery, strengthening household income, increase job opportunities and rising cost of living which could be solved according to their financial capability.

"So all the elements will be taken into account and evaluated by fence-sitters before they make a choice of which party they want to see govern Malaysia after GE15," he told Sinar Premium.

Hisommudin said this when asked on whether the fence-sitters will determine which coalition will be given mandate in GE15.

This was because the initial survey by Ilham Centre conducted on 1,622 respondents from Aug 1 to Sept 30, showed that 21 per cent of voters have not decided on which party they want to support: BN, PN, PH or GTA in GE15.

The study also found that even though BN was leading in terms of support with 35 per cent, followed by PH 18 per cent, PN (12 per cent) and others (15 per cent), 21 per cent of fence-sitters and youths would determine the coalition's victory.

The study also showed that the majority of Malay voters still supported BN (46 per cent); followed by PN (16 per cent); PH (13 per cent), undecided votes (17 per cent) and others (eight per cent).

The majority of Chinese voters remained in support of PH (38 per cent), followed by BN (20 per cent); PN (six per cent); undecided votes (23 per cent), others (14 per cent) and PN (six per cent).

In addition, the majority of Indian voters were still loyal to BN (35 per cent); followed by PH (29 per cent), undecided (22 per cent), others (seven per cent) and PN (six per cent).

Meanwhile, Hisommudin said the majority of young voters obtained the latest information on current issues through news portals, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Instagram, as well as the television and newspapers.