GE15: Voters will only vote for competent candidates

SHAH ALAM – Political think tank Ilham Centre says voters are paying serious attention to the competency of the candidates in making their decision for the 15th General Election (GE15).

"Political parties need to nominate the best candidates to gain support of the voters," it said.

Through research, the centre also found that GE15 will see a heated social media war as majority of the voters would be exposed to current political developments from the internet and the media.

With the findings, it said political parties could make use of the virtual media to present their offers to the voters in addition to face-to-face campaigns.

People would also be giving attention to the manifesto of political parties and then decide whether it fulfilled the people’s wishes which included focus on economic issues, rising cost of living and eradicating poverty, among others.

In its report, it stated that the people viewed the government as not having the best solution to the people's issues, at this point.

GE15 AS A YARDSTICK

GE15 is a manifestation of the extent to which the competing parties were able to understand the true desire of the electorate by highlighting new faces as candidates.

Based on its study, Ilham Centre concluded that competition was still wide open between the parties to explore and attract voters’ support, given that there were still 1/5 of the electorate (around 4.5 million people) who have yet to decide which party to vote for.

"The group vote has the potential to be scrambled throughout the campaign and potentially influence the outcome," the report read.

The think tank also reported significant differences in support patterns for the coalition according to ethnic and locality demographic factors.

However, the clash in the semi-urban mixed areas will determine who will come out as the winner, the centre concluded.

Meanwhile, among the main contenders found to be popular among the respondents as the Prime Minister candidate were incumbent Bera MP Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Although these prominent figures have been made as poster boys of their respective parties, Ilham Centre suggested that the parties could further intensify the campaigns.

It was noted that the majority of voters hoped that GE15 will be held after the end of the term but since Parliament has been dissolved earlier, the think tank said campaigns needed to be intensified to encourage and persuade the people to vote.

"The Election Commission and related agencies need to take effective action to increase turnout rates," the centre said.