MALAY support for Pakatan Harapan (PH) in Selangor has dropped to an all-time low as at March, 2021, said a recent survey.

The Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research study showed that only 27% of the Malays surveyed were in favour of the coalition.

“However, other metrics on Selangor Malays such as leadership, state government, economic and public service delivery performance remains positive and on the uptrend,” said Merdeka Centre.

Asked whether they would retain PH in Selangor, 43% of Malay voters said yes while 82% of Chinese and 61% of Indians also agreed.

Overall, the survey said the electoral support of those wanting to retain PH for a fourth term is 59%, with 29% disagreeing and another 12% unsure.

Some 55% of those surveyed said they were satisfied with the state government while 35% disagreed and 9% unsure.

PH in Selangor enjoyed its highest satisfaction level at 73% in November 2018.

The highest support among Malays for PH was in 2013 when the coalition included PAS at 42%. In 2018, the Malay support for PH was estimated to be 37%, said the pollster.

The support among Chinese and Indians for PH, however, remained relatively stable at 90% and 58% respectively.

The survey found that the highest support level among Chinese and Indians for the coalition was in 2018 at 95% and 80% respectively.

With the latest numbers, Merdeka Centre said PH remains poised to retain the state in a three-way battle against Perikatan Nasional (PN) and Barisan Nasional (BN).

“But PH in Selangor must show more effort in addressing economic pressures by boosting its presence in job creation and upskilling matters.

“It must also intensify efforts to redirect investments and invigorate economic activity.”

Merdeka Centre said Malay, Chinese and Indian support for PN was 44.2%, 6.1% and 14.9%, respectively. For BN, Merdeka Centre estimates that the support among Malays, Chinese and Indians to be at 28.8%, 4.1% and 27.6%.

The voter perception survey of Selangor voters was carried out from March 16 to March 24 and involved 1,141 respondents.

An earlier survey by Merdeka Centre of Peninsular Malaysia voters released last month showed Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s approval rating remains stable at 67% amid concerns over the economy and the Covid-19 pandemic.

The survey showed that Muhyiddin retained strong support from the Malay electorate at 83% as compared to 30% and 66% from the Chinese and Indian communities respectively.

The results showed an improvement compared with the 63% approval rating recorded at the end of January 2021, Merdeka Centre said.

The pollster said 2,111 respondents aged 21 and above were interviewed via telephone for this survey, which was conducted from March 31 to April 12. – May 6, 2021.