P.140
Segamat (13th General Election on May 5, 2013)
46,262 (20,093/43.43% Malays;
21,393/46.24% Chinese; 4,641/10.03% Indians)
Vote for Change, for our children’s future
AFP
Friday, Apr 26, 2013
Friday, Apr 26, 2013
KUALA LUMPUR - Opposition leader
Anwar Ibrahim holds a slight edge over Malaysian premier Najib Razak ahead of a
hotly anticipated election showdown on May 5, according to the latest opinion
poll.
Anwar was considered the more
qualified prime minister choice by 43 per cent of voters, compared to 39 per
cent for Najib, who is battling to stave off the biggest electoral threat to
the ruling coalition in its 56 years in power.
The survey released late Thursday by
the University of Malaya's Centre for Democracy and Elections also found that
42 per cent of respondents preferred the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (People's
Pact) policy manifesto.
Thirty-six per cent preferred that
of the ruling Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition, while 22 per cent
were undecided, it said.
"It's neck-to-neck. That's very
clear," said Redzuan Othman, director of the centre, adding that the
opposition was "gaining ground" in public support.
However, large blocks of voters
remained undecided on key points in the survey, conducted earlier in April on
more than 1,400 respondents.
Redzuan said the margin of error was
3.5 percentage points.
"The next seven days will be
very, very crucial. Those will indicate whether Barisan Nasional can make up
for the lost ground," Redzuan said.
Malaysia is bracing for what is
widely expected to be its closest election ever, with the opposition looking to
capitalise on voter disaffection over corruption, rising living costs and
crime, and authoritarianism under Barisan.
It handed the coalition - which is
controlled by Najib's ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) - the
worst setback in its history in 2008 elections.
A Malaysian government spokesman
said it was "difficult to draw any meaningful conclusions" from the
poll.
"The prime minister is
cautiously optimistic of gaining a good working majority in the election,"
he told AFP in an email.
The charismatic Anwar was once
heir-apparent to UMNO but was ousted in 1998 and jailed for six years after a
power struggle.
He joined the long-hapless
opposition after his release in 2004, dramatically reversing its fortunes by
uniting its divided main camps.
Amid pressure for reform, Najib has
made limited liberalisation gestures and is campaigning on a promise of
stability and continued economic growth.
The opposition, meanwhile, pledges
to attack rampant corruption, create a more open democracy and raise incomes.
Despite the survey findings,
observers say Pakatan faces an uphill climb overcoming pro-incumbent structural
biases built into the electoral system by Barisan over the decades.
Pakatan won 47 per cent of the
nationwide vote in 2008, but just over a third of parliament.
