BN will retain its 2008 performance

Barisan Nasional (BN) is expected to retain its performance as it did in the 12th General Elections.

The prediction was made by University of Malaya's Centre for Democracy & Elections (UMCEDEL) in its latest research.

The research was presented by UMCEDEL director Prof. Datuk Dr. Redzuan Othman at his office today.

“The decision however will be determined by 21 per cent of fence-sitters, meaning those who have yet to decide (on who to vote),” he said.

The research also looks at Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s popularity aspect.

‘Najib’s popularity is now 43 per cent, while Anwar is at 42 per cent,” said Dr Redzuan on, who is more qualified to become PM after GE13.

The research ran for two weeks beginning 26 December last year until 11 January this year, involving 1,409 respondents throughout Peninsular Malaysia, where all of them have voted at least once.

Apart from that, the research also concluded Selangor and Penang will remain under Pakatan Rakyat’s rule.

“The support toward Pakatan Rakyat in Selangor is still strong because among others, BN has not named its Mentri Besar candidate if it takes over state,” he said.

The decision on, who will rule Kelantan however remains open as the support for both BN and Pakatan Rakyat stands at the same level.

So who are the fence-sitters?

Based on UMCEDEL, the Chinese voters dominate this category and they will be the ones, who determine the results for GE13.

A total of 53 percent of the respondents were Chinese, followed by 37 per cent of Malay and 10 per cent Indians.

“More than half of them are aged between 21 to 30 years old and have university background,” said Redzuan.

He added that 37 per cent of Malay voters, who are on the fence were from the public sector.