A survey commissioned by some of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia's (Bersatu) founding members found PAS to be the most popular party as at the middle of last year, surpassing even BN.

The face-to-face survey of 3,000 respondents found 44.4 percent expressing support for PAS, compared to BN's 36.2 percent, and PKR's 25.9 percent.

Meanwhile, 16.7 percent said they opposed PAS, compared to BN and PKR, which were each opposed by 27.2 percent of the respondents. The remainder said they were unsure.

However, despite this, the survey also found the leaders who would later head Bersatu to be their top picks for the prime minister's post.

Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin was the favourite for the post with support from 37.3 percent of the respondents, followed by Bersatu chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad (35.9 percent) and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang (34.3 percent).

PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim came out as the sixth most popular, at 27 percent, while the current prime minister Najib Abdul Razak was the ninth most popular (20 percent), with a sizeable portion of respondents (52 percent) opposing him.

Among BN leaders, Defence Minister Hishamuddin Hussein (with 26.4 percent support) came out more popular than Najib and Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar (23.3 percent).

Only 15.2 percent of respondents agreed to the statement that Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi should become prime minister.

This places Ahmad Zahid below DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang (15.9 percent), Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali (17.2 percent), and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng (17.6 percent).

Meanwhile, 38.1 percent of respondents agreed that Umno should cooperate with PAS, and 32.6 percent also agreed that the two parties should merge.

When asked whether MIC or MCA should leave BN, only about 20 percent of respondents agreed to the statement in each case.

The survey was conducted in July and August last year, covering a representative sample of 30 parliamentary constituencies throughout Malaysia.

It was preceded by a series of focus group discussions and preliminary studies that started in April that year. Its findings were presented by Bersatu policy and strategy bureau chief Rais Hussin at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

He said nine university professors had been roped in to conduct the study and had been told uncover the "brutal truth" to gather accurate information to be used for Bersatu's election strategy. A follow up study would be conducted in the upcoming month of Ramadan.

As for PAS, 38.4 percent of respondents said the Islamist party should field ulama as election candidates, compared to 14.5 percent who disagreed.

When asked whether hudud implementation should be in PAS' election manifesto, 35.2 percent agreed while 17.6 percent disagreed.

Only 14.8 percent agreed that PAS should join the Pakatan Harapan coalition, compared to 29.5 percent who felt the party should fight alone.