Barisan Nasional would fare better than the last general election if the 13th general election is held today, according to Merdeka Centre director Ibrahim Suffian.
He said BN may also regain its two-thirds in the 222-seat lower house of Parliament, with rival block Pakatan Rakyat winning about 50 to 60 seats.
"This is my personal assessment based surveys done by the centre this year.
"It may not be prefect but would not be far off the mark," he told the weekly Sembang Sembang Forum in Caring Society Complex in Penang today.
Currently BN has 137 parliamentary seats compared with Pakatan's 82 seats. Three more seats are held by independent MPs.
Pakatan strategists have already acknowledged that a vote swing of 10 percent against or for either political coalitions would change the political landscape of the country in the next general election.
Based on the centre's surveys carried out this year since Najib Abdul Razak assumed the coveted premiership in April, Ibrahim said the approval rating for the new prime minister had gone up from 45 percent to nearly 60 percent.
He said the approval rating for Barisan Nasional coalition government saw a sharp upward trend among the Indians perhaps because the community had developed a feel good factor towards Najib.
Indian support on the rise
He said Indians approval rating for BN had leapt from poor 35 to 45 percent during March last year to about 55 percent today.
He cited Najib efforts to directly reach out and address issues affecting the Indian community without MIC as go-between may have given a perception to Indians that 'the prime minister was trying to do something for them."
He said Najib's visit to the Batu Caves temple had also boosted his standings among Indians.
"Indians perhaps are appreciative that Najib was taking the initiatives to address their legitimate plight," Ibrahim told the audience.
Approval rating for the BN among Malays, said Ibrahim had also shot up from 53 percent on polling day in March 2008 to 57 percent now.
However, he said the Chinese community approval rating to BN had remained unchanged at 35 to 40 percent for the past 20 months.
He said the surveys also revealed that economic issues and rising crime rates feature highly among all Malaysians.
He said majority Malaysians were more concerned on issues affecting their daily lives such as their livelihood, take home pay, job opportunities, business growth and safe living environment.
He said issues like corruption, unfair treatment and political issues were less priority issues to Malaysians, although they acknowledged their importance.
He said majority of the people surveyed were satisfied with the prime minister's efforts to improve the education system, improving government efficiency and managing the economy.
All is not lost for Pakatan
At the same time, he said many Malaysians were upset with the internal bickering and infighting within and among Pakatan allies.
"My personal opinion is BN should do better than the last time if election is held today or tomorrow.
"It could also win back its two-third parliamentary majority,' he opined.
An independent centre, the Merdeka Centre surveys covered about 1,000 respondents chosen random in each round.
Although the surveys could not be 100 percent perfect, Ibrahim however said the survey results could reflective of the opinions and sentiments of 80 percent population.
Although BN had a slight edge now over its rival political block Pakatan Rakyat, he said "all is not lost" for Anwar Ibrahim and company.
The Pakatan states, he said for instance could win over the middle ground non-partisan group, which is growing by the day, by improving their performances, and producing cohesive and dynamic blueprints for respective states.
He said lack of access to information could explain the stronger upward approval trend in rural areas towards BN than among urbanites.
"Many rural people, for instance in Sarawak, hardly read newspapers and their only source of information is the mainstream television news such as RTM and TV3.
"Unlike urban people, rural folks have less access to information technology such as Internet," said Ibrahim, adding Internet penetration among youth aged below 30 was about 80 percent.
He said the key to electoral success lied on which party would take the lead to get eligible citizens, especially youth, registered as voters.
He said BN may also regain its two-thirds in the 222-seat lower house of Parliament, with rival block Pakatan Rakyat winning about 50 to 60 seats."This is my personal assessment based surveys done by the centre this year.
"It may not be prefect but would not be far off the mark," he told the weekly Sembang Sembang Forum in Caring Society Complex in Penang today.
Currently BN has 137 parliamentary seats compared with Pakatan's 82 seats. Three more seats are held by independent MPs.
Pakatan strategists have already acknowledged that a vote swing of 10 percent against or for either political coalitions would change the political landscape of the country in the next general election.
Based on the centre's surveys carried out this year since Najib Abdul Razak assumed the coveted premiership in April, Ibrahim said the approval rating for the new prime minister had gone up from 45 percent to nearly 60 percent.
He said the approval rating for Barisan Nasional coalition government saw a sharp upward trend among the Indians perhaps because the community had developed a feel good factor towards Najib.
Indian support on the rise
He said Indians approval rating for BN had leapt from poor 35 to 45 percent during March last year to about 55 percent today.
He cited Najib efforts to directly reach out and address issues affecting the Indian community without MIC as go-between may have given a perception to Indians that 'the prime minister was trying to do something for them."
He said Najib's visit to the Batu Caves temple had also boosted his standings among Indians."Indians perhaps are appreciative that Najib was taking the initiatives to address their legitimate plight," Ibrahim told the audience.
Approval rating for the BN among Malays, said Ibrahim had also shot up from 53 percent on polling day in March 2008 to 57 percent now.
However, he said the Chinese community approval rating to BN had remained unchanged at 35 to 40 percent for the past 20 months.
He said the surveys also revealed that economic issues and rising crime rates feature highly among all Malaysians.
He said majority Malaysians were more concerned on issues affecting their daily lives such as their livelihood, take home pay, job opportunities, business growth and safe living environment.
He said issues like corruption, unfair treatment and political issues were less priority issues to Malaysians, although they acknowledged their importance.
He said majority of the people surveyed were satisfied with the prime minister's efforts to improve the education system, improving government efficiency and managing the economy.
All is not lost for Pakatan
At the same time, he said many Malaysians were upset with the internal bickering and infighting within and among Pakatan allies.
"My personal opinion is BN should do better than the last time if election is held today or tomorrow.
"It could also win back its two-third parliamentary majority,' he opined.
An independent centre, the Merdeka Centre surveys covered about 1,000 respondents chosen random in each round.
Although the surveys could not be 100 percent perfect, Ibrahim however said the survey results could reflective of the opinions and sentiments of 80 percent population.
Although BN had a slight edge now over its rival political block Pakatan Rakyat, he said "all is not lost" for Anwar Ibrahim and company.The Pakatan states, he said for instance could win over the middle ground non-partisan group, which is growing by the day, by improving their performances, and producing cohesive and dynamic blueprints for respective states.
He said lack of access to information could explain the stronger upward approval trend in rural areas towards BN than among urbanites.
"Many rural people, for instance in Sarawak, hardly read newspapers and their only source of information is the mainstream television news such as RTM and TV3.
"Unlike urban people, rural folks have less access to information technology such as Internet," said Ibrahim, adding Internet penetration among youth aged below 30 was about 80 percent.
He said the key to electoral success lied on which party would take the lead to get eligible citizens, especially youth, registered as voters.
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