KUALA LUMPUR – More than three quarters of Malaysians surveyed do not want a state of emergency to be declared, Selangor think-tank Institut Darul Ehsan (IDE) found.
Half of those surveyed also felt that the best way forward amid the ongoing political uncertainty was to appoint opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister, with Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin receiving less than one-third of the votes.
The survey, titled Malaysians Speak, was conducted on 51,147 unique respondents from various backgrounds, from 4pm to midnight yesterday.
It was carried out electronically via WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, email, IDE’s website, and Telegram, and linked to IDE’s e-survey system.
According to IDE, 77.39% (39,587 respondents) answered “no” when asked if they agreed that an emergency rule should be called, with 22.61% (11,560 respondents) voting “yes”.
On what they felt was the best option for Malaysians to address the current crisis, 49.8% (25,469 respondents) said Anwar should be made the prime minister, with 32.49% (16,617 respondents) voted for Muhyiddin to remain in power.
The remaining 9,061 surveyed (17.71%) believed the Dewan Rakyat should be dissolved and a fresh election be held to determine a new government.
“Based on our analysis, IDE found that the majority who supported the call for emergency are more inclined to support Muhyiddin to remain as prime minister.
“Those who rejected the proposed emergency rule are more likely to pick Anwar as prime minister,” it said in a statement yesterday .
The survey was conducted following speculations that Muhyiddin and his government had on Friday agreed to call for an emergency rule during a special cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office.
Following the meeting, Muhyiddin flew to Kuantan to present the government’s proposal to Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.
The Agong is set to meet with the Conference of Rulers at 2.30pm today to discuss on proposal before delivering a decision.
Sources had claimed that the government’s decision to call for emergency was made in light of the worsening Covid-19 situation, but critics argued that the move was merely an attempt by Muhyiddin to hold on to his power, with the Dewan Rakyat set to convene early next month. – The Vibes, October 25, 2020
