A WHOPPING 65.9% of Malaysians polled believe that Anwar Ibrahim will win the Port Dickson parliamentary by-election, according to the latest findings by Kota Damansara-based Kajidata Research.

However, this assumption could work against the PKR leader if voters choose to sit out the polls tomorrow, said the research house.

“There is a risk of a low turnout due to the high expectation that Datuk Seri Anwar will clinch a huge victory,” it said.

The nationwide study revealed that only 13.6% of the 1,003 respondents aged between 20 and 60 think any one of the other six candidates in PD would win.

Anwar will be up against five independent candidates – Saiful Bukhari, Isa Samad, Lau Seck Yan, Stevie Chan and Kan Chee Yuen – and air force veteran Nazari Mokhtar of PAS.

The poll, which was conducted from September 24 to 29, was run to gauge response to Anwar’s candidacy and the so-called ‘Port Dickson move’ which saw retired admiral Danyal Balagopal vacate the seat he won comfortably in the May 9 general election, to pave the way for Anwar to contest and make his way back to parliament.

The research house, which specialises in market, commercial and socio-political intelligence, said Malaysians had mixed feelings about the manoeuvre.

Only 44.2% of respondents supported the move to get Anwar to contest in PD, with 29.2% strongly supporting it while the remaining 15% saying they “somewhat agree”.

A total of 36.4% disagreed with the PH move and the remaining 19.4% said they were impartial.

Despite the dissatisfaction, a sizeable portion of the respondents – 46.8% – still believed that there would be “a positive impact on the PH government” should Anwar win the parliamentary seat, Kajidata said of its findings.

One unusual find of the survey was that bumiputera respondents in Sabah and Sarawak were strongly in support of Anwar contesting in PD, with 48% supporting him.

The Port Dickson constituency is made up of 75, 212 voters, with ethnic Malays making up 43% of the electorate, followed by ethnic Chinese (33%), Indians (22%) and other races making up only 2%.

On the question of Anwar going on to become the next prime minister, the survey found 44.8% of the respondents supported him, 28.8% did not and 26.4% are undecided.

The survey was conducted via voice activated telephone interview (VATI) and the respondents were selected on the basis of “random stratified sampling along ethnicity, gender, age and state according to the national demographics”, said Kajidata.

By state, the survey found that Anwar had 100% support in Labuan, while 100% of respondents in Putrajaya were against him contesting in the by-election.

States such as Kedah (47%), Pahang (49.6%) and Negeri Sembilan (45.8%) all registered high rate of disapproval of Anwar’s Port Dickson candidacy.

PH stronghold Penang was split in their opinions, with 37% of the respondents supporting and 36.5% against Anwar’s move. – October 12, 2018.