A RECENT survey by a local think tank found more than half of Malaysians polled (56%) felt “disputes” among Pakatan Harapan leaders was a big problem for the former Pakatan government.
The “Pulse from the Ground” survey, conducted by Emir Research between Jan 15 and Feb 25 this year, polled some 2,002 Malaysians in 19 parliamentary constituencies. It was aimed at gauging the publicâs wellbeing in terms of their perceptions, expectations, and worries. Emir Research is headed by Bersatu supreme council member Datuk Rais Hussin.
According to the opinion poll, around 55% of those surveyed agreed that internal disputes among Pakatan component parties were also a major problem while 38% agreed that Pakatan leaders were more involved in politics than running the country.
The think tank concluded that the data indicated that more than half of the sample agreed that “disputes” was a major political issue within the Pakatan coalition.
âIf the sample adequately represents the population of voters in Malaysia, at least five out of every 10 Malaysians viewed âdisputes among Pakatan leadersâ and âdisputes among Pakatan componentsâ were giving problems to the government, â the think tank stated. âAdditionally, about four out of every 10 Malaysians perceived Pakatan leaders were more involved in politics, than presumably in managing the country.â
More than one-third of the sample were not certain about the political issues which were related to Pakatan leaders and government.
Emir Research also asked respondents to rate the Pakatan governmentâs management of several economic sectors based on its 2018 election manifesto.
It said that at least one-third of those surveyed were satisfied with Pakatanâs implementation of economic-related initiatives as offered in its GE14 manifesto. These included the implementation of petrol subsidies, the management of the ringgit, the cost of health services, the price stability of basic necessities and the management and supply of rice in Malaysia.
However, more than 33% said they were not satisfied in Pakatanâs handling of big companies, with only 24% of the respondents saying they were satisfied.
âWhile the highest frequency of satisfaction was recorded for the management of supply of goods, one-third of the sample was not satisfied with the government’s handling of big companies, â Emir Research stated, noting that many respondents were uncertain about Pakatanâs performance in relation to these economic initiatives.
âUncertainty prevailed among the respondents regarding seven economic-related initiatives, as indicated by the ânot sureâ responses that ranged from 28% (supply of goods) to 43% (handling of big companiesâ monopoly) of the sample,â the think tank pointed out.
According to Emir Research, the survey also showed a wide gap in the satisfaction levels between those living in urban areas and those in rural areas.
The frequency of satisfaction among urbanites was lower compared with their rural counterparts, particularly in four out of the seven economic indicators based on Pakatan’s election manifesto.
âInvariably a higher frequency of satisfied responses was observed among the rural sample than in the urban sample in terms of satisfaction towards the management of supply of goods, petrol subsidy, issue of the Malaysian ringgit, and price of basic necessities.
âMore of the urban respondents indicated uncertainty in their feelings towards the fulfilment of the four promises by the ruling government, â it noted.
Interestingly, a higher number of urbanites had expressed satisfaction with the Pakatan governmentâs delivery of its electoral promises in the think tank’s inaugural poll carried out last September, Emir Research said.
