Survey: Most Malaysians reject race-based parties

KUALA LUMPUR, MARCH 16 — An overwhelming number of Malaysians prefer political parties that look after the interests of all races over those that cater only to one race, a recent survey has found.

Commissioned by The Malaysian Insider and carried out by the Merdeka Center, the survey involved interviews with 1,008 people of voting age by telephone between January 21-30, chosen through random stratified sampling along the lines of ethnicity, gender, age and parliamentary constituencies.

All parliamentary constituencies were surveyed and the selection of the respondents was proportional to the population.

Of the respondents polled, 76.9 per cent said they would vote for a party that was inclusive over one that catered to just their community, The Malaysian Insider reported today.

The poll found that an inclusive party was favored by 67.5 per cent of Malays, 91.4 per cent of Chinese and 89.2 per cent of Indians.

Only 27.8 per cent of Malays answered otherwise.

Ibrahim Suffian, the director of Merdeka Center, told The Malaysian Insider these results indicated the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition was growing out of touch.

“What Barisan Nasional stands for – race-based politics – is growing increasingly out of sync among the electorate,” he said.

“Even among the Malays. It’s only the really hardcore who want race-based politics.”

The poll found that, even among people who identified themselves as BN supporters, 73.4 per cent said they want a party that takes care of all races.

An inclusive policy was also favored by 77 per cent of voters who said they were undecided on which party to support.

However, Ibrahim said this did not necessarily spell the end of BN, because many Malaysians who were uncomfortable with a race-based party might still vote for the ruling coalition, as long as it delivered economically.

“Their supporters think, “yes, I don’t agree with the politics of BN, but it puts food on the table, it gives me jobs,”” he said.

The poll also found that 63.2 per cent of Malaysians favored change, and only 25.6 per cent favored the status quo.

BN supporters were split on this issue, The Malaysian Insider reported, with 46.8 per cent saying they wanted a party leadership that espoused change, and 42.2 per cent saying otherwise.