PETALING JAYA: A recent opinion poll has found that Umno had garnered a higher share of support from Chinese respondents than did DAP, which has traditionally fared well among voters from the community.
Findings released today from an Emir Research survey in August of over 2,000 respondents, showed that Umno was by far the most widely supported party among those surveyed, picking up 42.8% of responses, well ahead of PAS and PPBM with 15.5% and 8.5% respectively.
Broken down by ethnic demographic, Umno was still the most consistently well supported group, with a quarter of Chinese respondents expressing support.
In comparison, just 17% of these respondents selected DAP as their party of choice. The party scored just 1% of support from the Malays.
DAP was the second most supported group among the Chinese polled, followed by independents and MCA.
(On the difference if 8% in Chinese support for the two parties, Emir Research explained that “only when we observe a percentage difference of at least 10% can we conclude that there is a significant difference”.)
When asked about the most important factor dictating their vote, 29% of those surveyed put it down to their “principles”.
Following close behind were party loyalty and affinity for a particular politician, which registered 25% and 24% of responses respectively.
Muhyiddin the overwhelming choice as PM
Muhyiddin Yassin received overwhelming 65% support as the survey respondents’ choice of prime minister. Dr Mahathir Mohamad received 10% support followed by Anwar Ibrahim with 8%, Bernama reported.
Emir Research said Muhyiddin had greater support (68%) among urban respondents and was the preferred choice in all states except Penang, where Mahathir received greatest support.
Muhyiddin also received 73% approval among women, and more support among younger Malaysians. He also enjoyed greater support among Malays and the Bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak.
He had support of 50% of Chinese and Indian respondents, with Anwar receiving the second highest amount of support within these two ethnic groups.
Emir Research said the survey results showed a unanimous yearning for government stability.