KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 15 — The “red shirts” have drawn the backing of less than a quarter of Malays in peninsular Malaysia while over half disagree with the gathering scheduled to take place in the national capital tomorrow as they fear only chaos and ethnic tensions will result from it, a study released today showed.
In its latest study, independent pollster Merdeka Center found that 53 per cent of voters from both urban and rural areas in the peninsula did not support the demonstration that is purportedly being held to defend the “dignity” of the Malays, while 24 per cent expressed support and 22 per cent said they were not sure.
“Perhaps the most marked findings was that the lack of support for the rally was evident across the political divide, where 56 per cent of Barisan Nasional supporters, 60 per cent of Opposition supporters and 51 per cent of undecided voters reported that they did not support the rally,” Merdeka Center said in a statement.
According to the survey that was conducted between September 10 and noon today, the 53 per cent who said they did not support the “Red Shirt” rally expressed fears that the demonstration on Malaysia Day tomorrow would create chaos and that it would spark ethnic tensions, besides saying that the rally had unclear objectives.
The 24 per cent who backed the rally said it was to protect the dignity of the Malays, to display support for the Barisan Nasional (BN) government and Umno, as well as to protest the Bersih 4 rally.
A total of 72 per cent of respondents had internet access and they were roughly split among rural and urban areas, with 53 per cent coming from the cities.
Merdeka Center surveyed 516 Malay voters via telephone, who were selected through random stratified sampling across all parliamentary constituencies in peninsular Malaysia.
The authorities have allowed the September 16 rally, organised by Malay martial arts group Pesaka, to be held at Padang Merbok in the capital city.
There has been mixed messaging over the rally, with the Coalition of Malay NGOs selling red T-shirts promoting the demonstration with slogans in Bahasa Malaysia like “Malay Dignity Uprising” and calling it “Himpunan Maruah Melayu” [Malay Dignity Rally].
Rally organiser Pesaka, however, has insisted that the event is called “Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu” [United People’s Rally] and that it is open to all Malaysians. The silat group has also said that there there was no “red shirt” dress code.
