YOURSAY ‘The 47 percent of respondents who said they were happy with the BN coalition is a more indicative figure of BN's support base.'

PM's approval rating drops two points

your say Changeagent: PM Najib Razak's personal approval rating does not equate to intention to vote for BN in the next general election.

The 47 percent of respondents who said they were happy with the BN coalition is a more indicative figure to BN's support base.

Based on rough estimates, a sample size of 1,018 at a confidence level of 95 percent produces a margin of error of around 3 percent.

This means that BN's real support base can sit anywhere between 44 percent and 50 percent (+/- 47 percent).At best, BN is at a dead heat with Pakatan Rakyat.

At worst, it is a landslide win for Pakatan (56 percent vs 44 percent) - which explains why Najib is so reluctant to call an election despite his relatively high approval rating.

Ez24get: We don't know whether the Merdeka Center survey is credible or not. But we do know that the Malays are not so stupid to be duped by the ‘Allah' row.

In fact, whosoever schemed the ‘Allah' row has had it backfired on BN. Instead of igniting the ‘Allah' row, hoping the Malays will be running in droves over to BN, the survey shows no significant change in Malay support.

On the contrary, it has angered the other communities. Where the survey shows only a two percent reversal in support of the non-Malays, in actual fact, the reversal is much more, considering that the survey left out Sabah and Sarawak where there are a significant number of Christians who are angered by the Sultan of Selangor's decree. This is bad news for BN.

PAS is seen as a credible party which unites the citizens of Malaysia, while BN is seen as the party which sows discord and mistrust in its last-ditched attempt to remain in power.

Lim Chong Leong: Phone call surveys are not accurate when it comes to Malay and Indian voters because Umno has many underhanded tactics to spy on them, and many are afraid to say what they feel about Umno to strangers.

For example, the teacher who attended a Pakatan Rakyat ceramah (talk) and was sacked, and later offered a reprieve if she joined Umno.

Many have been threatened because they are civil servants or are employed in a government-linked company (GLC), or have somebody close to them working as a civil servant or a GLC employee.

Enlightened: I got called and I wasn't honest with my answer. Come on, they actually know where you are going to vote and even wished me "Happy Birthday". Just imagine how much information they have about us.

Anak Kedah: As long as Umno remains in power, Malaysia will continue its trajectory to be amongst the poorest of the third world countries. Already, Malaysia is first in the world in terms of illegal funds being siphoned out of the country on a per capita basis.

Has the finance minister ever bothered to investigate who are those siphoning out these illegal money? Might any of his friends be involved? Maybe it is okay since these are just ‘donations' to the party or its members.

Jiminy Qrikert: To those who are still fence-sitters and may vote BN in GE13, consider this - Najib has not yet been given a mandate by the rakyat and he already treats the rakyat's money as his own, splurging the money for his own interests.

So, what do you think is likely to happen when he does win GE13 and receives his mandate from the rakyat?

Najib and his BN cronies will bankrupt Malaysia for sure while they enrich themselves. Vote Pakatan for a better Malaysia, for you, your children and their children.

Ruben: I am surprised that it only dropped by two points. With all the scandals, his inefficiency and indecisiveness, plus his silence on a number of controversial matters, it could have been more.

Anonymous #57928584: Still 63 percent? I say 36 percent is more like it.

HYL: Now with the water crisis, it will drop further. And I think he will delay the polls much further.

Giudice: Najib just reminds me of someone going up a creek without a paddle. It is a pleasing thought.

Cantabrigian: Forget Merdeka Center, the look on Najib Abdul Razak's face is enough to tell the rakyat how confident he is in facing the upcoming general election.

Mangodurian: That's still pretty high; 77 percent support from the Malays, and surprisingly/disappointingly, the Indian community (76 percent).

It looks like the working-class demographic still believes in BN somehow. The Chinese community (34 precent support) seems to have given up on MCA though.

James Dean: Given up is an understatement... that is one corrupt party we all (regardless of race) can do without. Other countries' disasters are fated (tsunami, earthquake, fires, etc); ours are all man- (BN-) made.

YF: If there is such a strong support the PM, then why did MCA, MIC and Gerakan lose big time in the previous elections?

Or why did Umno had to degrade themselves from ‘despicable' to ‘evil' in this last lap to GE13? Surely there is something very, very wrong with these ratings.

Aris Moklas: Being a scientist myself, I'm rejecting the outcome unless Najib's popularity rating was designated for a smaller community or area. Other factors such as politeness, scared to say anything bad, especially among the Malays, may affect the final result.

The number the samples is too small to draw a conclusion for the general population. Even though Merdeka Center claimed that the margin of error was 5 percent, it could be higher if you take other factors into account.

Peaceloving: I don't think all those who answered the survey were sincere. I am sure they know who was conducting the survey. So to make them happy, they pretended to show their support. In reality, this may not be the case.

Ferdtan: Merdeka Centre's opinion poll is no different from my gut's feeling. The random sampling is too small. I would rather trust my coffee shop buddies - they are more accurate in their predictions.

Lets be fair: Let the truth appear in GE13. The atmosphere and feeling in this sense is volatile and you can't put your finger on it... you might get your fingers burnt by this.

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