BN's declining support among Malay voters remains questionable

The latest survey by independent pollster Merdeka Center says Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal popularity is unlikely to buoy the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) at the coming general election due to declining support among Malay voters, I got a great  deal on the bridge. 

Merdeka Center’s opinion survey conducted among voters in peninsular Malaysia showed that satisfaction with the sixth PM’s performance declined among Malay and Indian voters from 79 per cent to 75 per cent, and from 72 per cent to 69 per cent, respectively.

In politics, it’s a zero sum games, somebody wins, and somebody loses. Undeniably, everything is an issue as everything that politicians do is based on wealth redistribution. Candidates' popularity with voters becomes the utmost importance. If you lose, nothing remains to you.

Undeniably, opinion polls play a major role in political strategies. In its most basic form, opinion polling consists of pollsters asking members of the general public about their opinions on one or more specific subjects. Polling can take many forms, though many of the most thorough and ultimately useful polls fall under the classification of scientific polling.

The political polls that often kill the suspense of political campaigns are by accurately predicting the results before the first ballot has been cast.   On the negative side, surveys share with experiments the disadvantage of artificiality.  

There is always a risk that people's answers to questionnaire items may not reflect their true feelings or them subsequent actions.  Surveys can also seem superficial, when compared with field research.

A methodology relying on standardization forces the researcher to develop questions general enough to be minimally appropriate for all respondents, possibly missing what is most appropriate to many respondents. 

There are unforeseeable incentives and opportunities for opportunism to exploit the opportunity and make arbitrage profits as opportunism is understood as self-interest seeking and exploitation of beneficial opportunities especially through politic.

Thus the finds out of the Merdeka Center report that the prime minister and head of the 13-member BN coalition is in a rocky position due to declining support among Malay voter remains questionable.