Young Voters Expected To Decide 17th Sabah Election Results - IDE Research Centre
KOTA KINABALU, Nov 7 (Bernama) -- Young voters are expected to be a determining factor in the success of any party contesting in the upcoming 17th Sabah state election, IDE Research Centre chairman Senator Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Mohammad Redzuan Othman said.
Based on a study conducted by the centre, about 27 per cent of voters in Sabah are fence-sitters, and their choices would depend more on the chance of a believable future, and not loyalty to any political party, he added.
“In these next two weeks, it is very important and critical that every contesting party provide a convincing narrative to youth to vote for them.
“The young generation does not have loyalty, they have no loyalty to support the party just because their father did. It doesn’t work that way,” he said at a media conference on the Landscape of Public Perception for Sabah’s Prosperity and Development Study at the Sabah International Convention Centre here today.
The study, with the theme “Nadi Sabah 2025 – Suara Rakyat Menjelang PRU DUN SABAH KE-17 (Pulse of Sabah 2025 - The People’s Voice in the run-up of the 17th Sabah State Election)“ was conducted with the cooperation of Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and Social and Community Research Association (PPSK) research groups.
The researchers included Prof Dr Abdullah Bade from UMS’ Science and Technology Faculty, Prof Dr Murnizam Halik from UMS’ Psychology and Social Work Faculty, IDE executive director Amidi Abdul Rahman, IDERC Research and Analytics director Khairul Arifin Mohd Munir and IDERC Data Analytics director Kamarul Bahrin Zahid.
Mohammad Redzuan said in efforts to woo young voters, political parties need to pay attention to issues related to youth and how they tackle these issues will determine the tendencies of fence-sitting voters.
“The campaign period is only a mechanism but how to convince voters to come to the ballot and vote for a party, that will decide the success of a party’s candidate,” he said.
The study included the main face-to-face survey in 73 state constituencies in the state, involving all levels of ages, genders and ethnicities from Aug 21 to 29, followed by field observation from August till Nov 1 involving 2,488 respondents.
According to him, the study’s results found that 66.5 per cent of respondents choose based on candidate, while 33.5 per cent choose based on party.
“The candidate factor will refer to several major items, including the candidate’s contribution to the local community and their personality. Those using political parties as a basis for voting will use the party’s struggle, performance and influence on family, friends and communities as reference,” he said.
The study also identified three major local issues of concern to Sabah voters, water and electricity disruption, road and infrastructure problems, the rising costs of goods and cost of living.
“However, all Sabahans acknowledge current efforts by the state and federal government as a major synergy to ensure that it can be realised and fixed in stages,” he added.
-- BERNAMA
