People want Barisan and Pakatan to talk, UM survey shows

BY V. ANBALAGAN, ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

The majority of Malays and Chinese want the Barisan Nasional government to reconcile with Pakatan Rakyat in the aftermath of the general election, according to a survey.
Universiti Malaya Centre for Democracy and Election (UMCEDEL) revealed that more than two-thirds of respondents were tired of politics after two years of election campaigning.
"They want political leaders from both sides to develop the country," the centre's director Datuk Mohamad Redzuan Othman (pic) said.
The survey, conducted between August 15 and September 10, involved 1,546 people of all races.
Redzuan said 70% of the Malays and 67% of the Chinese polled wanted reconciliation.
The study also showed that rural Malays voted for the BN while the Chinese supported PR.
"The sentiment of voters has remained despite the election having been over three months ago," he told a press conference.
The respondents also felt that all parties in the government and opposition had reached a stalemate.
Redzuan said he left it to politicians who knew better to handle the current situation "as they have the solution to the problem".
"In politics there are no permanent enemies and friends," he added.
He said the people wanted the leaders from both sides of the divide to sit down and discuss issues for the benefit of the country and for a calm environment to prevail after more than two years of intense politicking.
However, he said BN had to work with PKR, DAP and PAS, not one or two of them.
"There is no Chinese representation in the BN government. The Chinese dominate the economy and it is unthinkable what will happen over the next four years," he said.
In the May 5 general election, the BN won 133 parliamentary seats while PR secured 89, seven more than in 2008.
However, the opposition secured 53% (5,035,611) of popular votes compared with BN which garnered 46% (4,322,139).
On the respondents' view of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Redzuan said the findings revealed that  the people had expected Najib to deliver a two-thirds majority in the Dewan Rakyat.
"He spent a lot of time and resources but he failed," he said.
Former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had to resign from office after the BN poor performance in the 2008 polls.
The UMCEDEL survey also found that respondents want opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to lead Pakatan at the 14th general election.
"About 55% of them want him to continue with the struggle and lead Pakatan while another 28% were unsure," Redzuan said. – September 19, 2013.

Source themalaysianinsider