As the Sibu by-election looms tomorrow, the DAP's fate may well hinge on the turnout of young voters as they hold the key to the party's triumph or heartbreak.

Between the ages of 21 to 40, the youth account for 42 percent of the constituency's voters, and the Pakatan has to not just win their hearts but also ensure they turn up in such numbers as to decide the seat in favour of its ally.

Zentrum Future Studies Malaysia co-founder Dr Abu Hassan Abdullah also expects the Sibu contest to be close and would be the BN's to lose as the Pakatan is still trailing the former by more than 4 percent.

According to its 'Micro Research on Political Confidence Perception' as of yesterday, the BN is ahead by 52.2 percent, while Pakatan/DAP is at 47.6 percent with the remaining 0.2 percent leaning towards the Independent candidate.

sibu by election chinese crowd in dap forum He said that until yesterday Pakatan was still lagging behind in all three state seats of Bawang Assan, Pelawan and Nangka, all within the Sibu parliamentary constituency.

"However, much hinges on the turnout of the youth voters who are seen to be more pro-Pakatan as revealed by our findings," he said, when met by Malaysiakini.

Attracting youth vital

"This is because in our survey of the younger generation in Sibu and the rest of the country are seen to be pro-Pakatan.

azlan "However, it is of no use, if they do not choose to come out and exercise their voting rights."

The stakes are high as even Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim have turned up for the last lap to woo voters.

Abu Hassan, from Universiti Malaya, said the majority of Sibu's older generation of voters still back the BN and so the outcome would very much depend on the young voters.

Both sides of the divide have to find ways to make sure a solid turnout of the younger generation for the country 13th by-election.

"I think both BN and Pakatan leaders realise that, and that is why both are trying to wooing this age group," he said.

Abu Hassan also revealed that results from the Hulu Selangor polls showed that despite youth accounting for 47 percent of the voters, only 18 percent actually turned up to cast their ballots.

He said a majority of nearly 30 percent of them, said to be Pakatan supporters, were absent on polling day and this was rather puzzling although for the survey, their response favoured the opposition.

"I think among the reasons why they do not turn up is being young they would not like to stand and stay in line for hours to vote. There could be other factors but they are for political leaders to address," he said.

Zentrum in their study provide audio and visual response of voters' sentiments to assess what is called 'Micro Research on Political Confidence Perception'.

khairy jamaluddin kj interview 190310 Abu Hassan said Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin's ( right ) analysis of young voter support turning towards BN was incorrect , as the simple fact was that a majority of them did not turn up to vote.

Hence, he said if this was repeated in Sibu then it is likely that the seat is the BN's.

"If the voter turnout for youth is better, there is a slim chance that DAP will take the seat with a narrow majority of 1,000."

Abu Hassan said the next general election hinges on the youth support and turnout.

"As for the older generation, they have more or less decided whom to vote for," he said.

Certainly, he said the future and outlook for Malaysian politics hinges on garnering youth support as this is essential for the survival of political parties.