A survey jointly by Ilham Centre and think tank Penang Institute during the ending months of last year has found that more than 60 percent of the Malays surveyed were not happy with the Pakatan Harapan government as they believed that non-Muslims were now in control of the government and that DAP was calling the shots in Putrajaya.
The survey interviewed 2,614 Malay respondents between Oct 24 and Dec 24, 2018.
The Ilham Centre/Penang Institute survey cannot be a correct reflection of situation in the country as not even one per cent of non-Muslims in any survey will believe that non-Muslims are now in control of the government and that DAP is calling the shots in Putrajaya.
If the Ilham Centre/Penang Institute survey is a correct reflection of the situation in the country, then if a similar survey had been conducted among the non-Muslims at the same time, a substantial number of non-Muslims will be very supportive of Pakatan Harapan government on the ground the non-Muslims were now in control of the government and that the DAP was calling the shots in Putrajaya.
Although such a survey among non-Muslims was not held, I dare say that if a survey had been conducted, there will not be a single percent of non-Muslims who would feel happy with the Pakatan Harapan government on the ground that the non-Muslims were now in control of the government and that DAP was calling on the shots in Putrajaya, when these suppositions were not true at all.
In fact, any poll would show that there was an increase in dissatisfaction with the DAP and the Pakatan Harapan on the ground that the DAP and the Pakatan Harapan government had disappointed the expectations and high hopes of the non-Muslims in the country in first nine months of the Pakatan Harapan government.
Why a such a disconnect on the ground leading to the Ilham Centre/Penang Institute survey finding that 60 per cent of the Malays surveyed were not happy with Pakatan Harapan Government because of the belief that the non-Muslims were now in control of the government and that the DAP was calling the shots in Putrajaya, while there was not even one per cent of non-Muslims who were happy with the Pakatan Harapan government precisely on the same grounds?
In a previous survey done in August last year, Harapan was reported to have secured only 17 percent of Malay votes in 14th general election.
Does this mean that there is now an increasing support of the Malays for the Pakatan Harapan government, more than doubling of Malay support for the Pakatan Harapan government from the lowly 17% to over 40%?
Be that as it may, it is important that the Pakatan Harapan address the grievances and unhappiness of all Malaysians, whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans, Orang Ali – or Muslims and non-Muslims.
(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah Lim Kit Siang on Saturday, 2nd February 2019)