The response of Perak BN assemblypersons to complaints via the social media and email has improved tremendously in the past year, says NGO Kuasa.

A survey done by the NGO found that the number of responses received has almost doubled, compared with the results from another survey done earlier this year.  

"This is a massive improvement for Perak, which was at a paltry 27 percent (responses to complaints) in March.

"In fact, Perak’s performance improved markedly — 64 percent — to close the gap with Selangor, especially BN (assemblypersons)," Kuasa chief executive Praba Ganesan ( below ) said in a statement today.

This follows up on the survey done earlier this year showing Perak and Selangor representatives as the least responsive to complaints via email, Facebook and Twitter.

The survey was done over a period of 10 days, where email, Facebook messages and tweets were sent to all 115 assemblymen in Perak and Selangor.  

The level of response to the posts was then rated in the green, red and amber colours, with green being most responsive and red indicating no means of communication possible.

Kuasa said the improvement in response could be attributed to a few reasons, including the fact that the survey was well-publicised by the print and online media.

Following the early survey, it said, the assemblypersons were more alert to communication via the social media.

Nizar, Zambry unresponsive

However, the number of assemblypersons who were unresponsive to alerts in the earlier survey done remained the same for both BN and Pakatan.

"There are almost equal numbers (of assemblypersons) in Perak and Selangor from both coalitions who belong to the wrong side of the digital divide."

Among those who found themselves listed as 'unresponsive' were former Perak menteri besar Nizar Jamaluddin (PAS, Changkat Jering), Daroyah Alwi (PKR, Sementa), Perak Menteri Besar Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir (Umno, Pangkor) and Sulaiman Abdul Razak (Umno, Permatang).

Highly responsive were the state executive councillors in the respective states, including new Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali.

"Out of 10 executive councillors in Perak, seven replied. In Selangor, nine out of 11 executive councillors, and Azmin as well, responded."

Kuasa focuses on tracking political actors through strategic social media communications.