PETALING JAYA: A pre-election survey has found that Malay voters in Selangor may favour Perikatan Nasional over unity government parties.
The study titled "Why Perikatan Nasional may win in Selangor" involving Malay voters in Selangor found that there is no significant vote transferability between Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN).
"This means that BN Malay voters may not necessarily transfer their votes to Pakatan candidates in the state election and vice versa, despite the two parties forming a coalition government at the federal level," said Institut Masa Depan Malaysia.
In releasing its findings, it said that 39% of Malay voters in Selangor who voted for Barisan in the 15th General Elections said that they will vote for Perikatan if it is a straight fight between Perikatan and Pakatan in their constituency.
"Only 15% said they will vote for Pakatan," it said.
It added that 46% of Barisan's Malay voters have fallen into the “unsure voters” category.
"There is a greater likelihood that Barisan's Malay voters will transfer their votes to Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidates, thus giving it the advantage in the election, especially in 39 Malay-majority seats in the state," said the institute.
"With this latest polling trend, winds of change are blowing in Selangor. Whether or not these winds can sweep PN to an electoral victory in the state depends on how much strength they gather leading up to polling day," it added.
A face-to-face interview was conducted by the Institute from 1 March to 20 April 2023, involving 1,200 samples across ethnic groups in 39 Malay-majority state seats in Selangor.
The study was conducted by International Islamic University Malaysia political science Associate Professor Marzuki Mohamad and Institut Masa Depan Malaysia (Institut MASA) political researcher Khairul Syakirin Zulkifli and published in ISEAS Perspective, a publication of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore.
