A poll conducted by PKR has revealed a surprise - Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng is more popular than Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim in Penanti.

approval ratings of lim guan eng anwar ibrahim muhyiddin najib 270509 The DAP stalwart also defeated Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin to claim pole position. Najib took fourth place.

The survey found that 59 percent of the 3,374 electorates are satisfied with their chief minister's performance while 58 percent were happy with Anwar's performance as a national leader.

The Penanti state seat falls under Anwar's Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency and is often regarded as his fortress.

Come this Sunday, a by-election will be held in Penanti, after the state seat fell vacant following the resignation of PKR's Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin.

The contest is expected to be a tame affair following Barisan Nasional's decision to not vie for the seat.

It will be a four-cornered fight between PKR's Mansor Othman and three Independents.

According to the poll, Muhyiddin took the third slot with a 39 percent approval rate while Najib only managed to muster 28 percent.

penanti by election campaigns 270509 01 On a separate issue, the electorates surveyed gave a 39 percent approval rating to Najib cabinet's performance as well.

The 39 percent approval rating came from those below 45, while the figure stood at 23 percent for those below 45.

As for Muhyiddin's cabinet performance, the ratings were 38 percent and 41 percent in the same order.

Although Lim is ahead of Anwar in terms of popularity and performance, both however scored almost identical percentages in approval ratings among those below 45 (67 percent) and above 45 (50 percent).

The survey was carried out for the past three weeks by PKR election workers in a bid to gauge electoral support for the party.

On Umno and NEP

In revealing the survey results at a press conference today, party election director Saifuddin Nasution said respondents were asked open-ended questions on the performance of political leaders based on certain general issues.

However, he did not specify the types of questions posed.

penanti state seat penang 200409 Another startling disclosure is that 70 percent of the respondents believed that Umno cannot help Penang Malays voters while only 20 percent felt otherwise.

Another 45 percent agreed that Lim and the state cabinet could take care of Penang Malays while 30 percent saw the Pakatan Rakyat government's policies as threatening Malays in the state.

On the New Economic Policy (NEP), 65 percent of the respondents, comprising 63 percent of those below 45 and 68 percent of those above 45, felt that the policy only benefitted rich and well- connected Malays

Meanwhile, Saifuddin said Pakatan's election machinery was working out several strategies to penetrate Umno strongholds in Penanti such as Mengkuang Titi, Kuala Mengkuang and Guar Perahu as well as Teluk Wang - a Thai Malaysian community domain.

He said the Penanti constituency's other balloting areas - Sungai Semambu, Sungai Lembu, Tanah Liat, Kubang Ulu, Penanti and Berapit - were safe pockets.

Penanti has 15,384 regitered voters.