EXCLUSIVE Despite the apparent local furore and international splash that the recent Bersih 2.0 electoral reform rally is said to have created, a local pollster believes the event's immediate impact on Malaysians is practically negligible.
Merdeka Centre director Ibrahim Suffian (right) told Malaysiakini in an exclusive interview yesterday that there was no shift in any significant terms that Merdeka Centre detected and related how the polling firm's preliminary findings suggests that
popular support levels have been more or less consistent, before and
after the rally.
Ibrahim explained away any detected reduction in support for BN as "an insignificant reduction", caused by inflation fears or the perception of certain leaders and was of the opinion that BN still commanded the majority of about 55 to 58 percent, especially among the Malays. ."
Merdeka Centre director Ibrahim Suffian (right) told Malaysiakini in an exclusive interview yesterday that there was no shift in any significant terms that Merdeka Centre detected and related how the polling firm's preliminary findings suggests that
popular support levels have been more or less consistent, before and
after the rally. Ibrahim explained away any detected reduction in support for BN as "an insignificant reduction", caused by inflation fears or the perception of certain leaders and was of the opinion that BN still commanded the majority of about 55 to 58 percent, especially among the Malays. ."
He said that though the presence of up to 30,000 people at the event, with high
numbers of youth, was an actual measure of support for electoral reform, it was only true for a small fraction of the population.
When asked to analyse the impact of the July 9 rally staged by Bersih 2.0, a coalition of NGOs pushing for electoral reforms, Ibrahim explained, saying,"At the event, yes, there may have been thousands of people, but when we do surveys we look at a wider population of the entire country."
When asked to analyse the impact of the July 9 rally staged by Bersih 2.0, a coalition of NGOs pushing for electoral reforms, Ibrahim explained, saying,"At the event, yes, there may have been thousands of people, but when we do surveys we look at a wider population of the entire country."
Ibrahim
argued that there were millions more Malaysians beyond the Klang Valley
who have neither heard about Bersih nor cared about it due to the lack of access to alternative
news for most Malaysians living outside the major cities.
The pollster related the response from the youth when they were asked about Bersih as part of a Merdeka Centre survey with the common responses being, "I
don't know; I heard they wanted to demonstrate or whatever; I don't
care about politics."
The
government had outlawed the group and declared the rally illegal,
cracking down hard on the people who took to the streets of Kuala Lumpur
to take part in the rally.
The
government had outlawed the group and declared the rally illegal,
cracking down hard on the people who took to the streets of Kuala Lumpur
to take part in the rally.
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