Adenan is the most popular than the previous chief ministers of Sarawak

 81 percent of the respondents in the survey give their approval to Adenan as Chief Minister

KUCHING, April 19, 2016 -Sarawak 5th Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem have attained strong approval among Sarawak voters ahead of the coming 11th state election schedule for May 7, 2016.

81% of the respondents reported being satisfied with his performance, as found in a survey among Sarawak voters concluded at the end of January 2016.

His approval rating improved from 74% to 81% when compared to an earlier Merdeka Center survey conducted in April 2015. The positive rating is across all segments of the society including Malay-Melanau, Dayak and Chinese voters.

75% of respondents in the same survey agreed that Adenan “had brought significant change” to Sarawak since he took over as CM in February 2014.

When asked about the major changes that Adenan brought, 1/3 of the respondents recognized the abolishment of road toll charges at several locations within Sarawak. This was followed by awareness of more infrastructure projects (18%), addressing the issue of illegal logging (13%) and more welfare assistance for low income citizens (11%). 7% of respondents polled also noted that the CM was “serious in fighting corruption in the state”.

19% of the Chinese respondents recognized the change brought by Adenan in the area of education (specifically mentioning the recognition of the UEC by the state government).

In same survey, 62% of the respondents reported being satisfied with the performance of Sarawak state government; significantly lower compared to approval rating of Adenan.

Sarawak state government approval rating decreased 6% when compared to 68% as recorded in April 2015 . Sarawak state government has strong approval rating from the MalayMelanau community (79% satisfied) and follows by Dayak (62%).

The Chinese voters are split in their view on Sarawak state government with 49% satisfied and 44% dissatisfied. The dissatisfaction felt of the Sarawak state government also increased from 25% in April 2015 to 33% in January 2016.

 

In our opinion, although Adenan possessed strong approval rating among voters not all of it will be translated into votes for the BN.

 In general, the survey indicates that voters do recognize the changes brought by the chief minister but the attribution of the positive outcomes may differ according to voter segments.

For example within certain quarters of the Sarawak Chinese electorate, the delivery of policy changes and improvements may be attributed to the effort of opposition parties such as the DAP.

 Meanwhile Bumiputera voters are likely going to attribute improvements to the BN on account of its continued presence in their communities.

Nonetheless despite the weaker ratings, the survey does show a strong appreciation among Sarawak voters for the Opposition to play a check and balance role in the governance of the state.

The survey was carried out by the Merdeka Center for Opinion Research between the 20th to 26th January 2016 to gauge voters’ perceptions of current developments in the Sarawak in the lead up

to the state elections.

 815 registered voters comprising 27% Muslim Bumiputra, 38% Non-Muslim Bumiputra and 36% Chinese respondents which was reflective of electoral profile of Sarawak were interviewed via fixed line and mobile telephones.

Respondents were selected on the basis of random stratified sampling along age group, ethnicity, gender and state constituency.

The poll was funded by Merdeka Center’s internal financial resources.