MEDIA STATEMENT : For Immediate Release
“Survey finds Unemployment and Economic Stability Matter most in Johor Polls”
By Amirul Johan, Researche
Issue date: February 14, 2022
According a recent ground survey conducted by the Institute of Strategic Analysis and Policy Research (INSAP) from end January to early February, 2022, MCA/BN received a performance rating on average of 3.29 compared with 2.80 for Perikatan Nasional and 2.75 for Pakatan Harapan. The survey is based on sample size of 1,240.
It is found that the average support rate from the Chinese community in Johor has risen to an average of 25%, a marked improvement from the results in the 14th General Election where the average support from the Chinese was about 12-15%. Malay support for the BN is an average of 55%, according to the survey. BN used to garner up to 65-78% of the Malay votes prior to the last general election.
Dr. Pamela Yong, Deputy Chairman of INSAP says that “there is strong empirical data showing Malay support will be splintered and divided in this coming state election hence, it is important for the BN to leverage on other communities to level our chances of winning in the focus seats.”
Overall, there has been an unusually high number of voters who are yet to decide which party or coalition to pick as their representative. It is believed a large portion of them would have voted for Pakatan Harapan but are warily undecided on their choices this state election. Over 50% of the respondents state that they are disappointed with Pakatan Harapan because they failed to fulfil their manifesto and election promises. 45.8% of the Chinese respondents who say that they are PH supporters, say that they would consider picking an MCA candidate for their seat this time around.
According to Amirul Johan who is the reseacher at INSAP, says that the findings show that 76.2% of the respondents state that they have been hard hit by the pandemic.
Dr. Pamela Yong says that “the economic hardships in Johor are real, and urgent assistance is needed for the people as their sustenance is running low”.
Her comments are in line with the findings that around 43.4% of the respondents state that they only have around 3 months left in their savings to sustain themselves, and 30.5% of them say that they have no savings at all.
“A lot of people living in Johor are dependent on traffic from Singapore and due to border controls, unemployment and lack of business opportunities have become top of mind when it comes to picking a stable government for the next 4-5 years.”
“This time round, their choices will be dictated by basic ‘bread and butter’ issues and not some pie in the sky”, adds Dr. Pamela Yong.
According to Amirul Johan, the survey also finds BN’s Menteri Besar-candidate remaining a popular figure across all races receiving positive ratings of 54.8% from the Malay community, 48.3% from the Chinese and 54.3% from the Indians.
Dr Pamela says that “Hasni Mohamed is the right choice for Johoreans being accepted by all races and his ratings are consistently high EVEN among the younger voters. He is the right man for the right job.”
She adds that “no time is better than the present to have a stable, united front for the BN, especially in the face of a split opposition where multiple cornered fights are expected.”
“People are looking for political and economic stability like never before.”
Ends