KUALA LUMPUR (May 3): UMNO will “lose a lot of seats” it is contesting in the 13th General Election (GE13) on Sunday, taking after the fate of its fellow Barisan Nasional-constituent MCA in the previous election, said think tank group Political Studies for Change.

In a statement, the group -- known by its Malay name Kajian Politik untuk Perubahan (KPRU) -- said this prediction stems from several factors, notably Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s waning popularity and Malaysians’ lack of confidence in his policies to uplift the rakyat’s living standards.

“A survey conducted by University Malaya Centre for Democracy and Elections (Umcedel) found that Najib’s qualification to hold the reign as prime minister has fallen, in which only 39% of respondents believed Najib deserves to be the Prime Minister as opposed to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim which gained as much as 43% on the same survey,” said KPRU.

“This is a fall of 4% from the survey conducted in early 2013. This is in line with the increase of trust in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) to become the new government post-GE13,” the think-tank said.

Among Malay respondents, Umcedel found that 54% of them saw Anwar as a more deserving prime minister. Najib, however, scored only 28%.

KPRU said Najib and his 1Malaysia ideology have been deemed a failure to raise Malaysians’ living standards.

“Najib announced that the poverty rate has fallen to a mere 1.7%. Yet, it is predicted that the real number of the poverty rate in Malaysia is actually 19%, taking into account the household income and the 2009 Basic Amenities Survey Report by the Malaysian Statistics Department,” it opined.

Additionally, KPRU said the government under BN had to dish out as much as RM3 billion for 1Malaysia People’s Assistance, or BR1M, to alleviate Malaysians’ rising cost of living.

“Also to be noted is 60% of public servants are financially incapable of purchasing a house as well as the failure of the First Home Scheme to assist the young adults to purchase their first homes,” said the think tank group.

According to KPRU, Anwar Ibrahim has a better reputation than the caretaker prime minister when it comes to managing the country’s finances and creating policies that could bring reforms in line with contemporary demands.

“In 2007, Malaysia’s debt was RM267 billion. In 2013, the debt jumped to RM502 billion. During Anwar Ibrahim’s tenure as finance minister, the country’s deficit was actually turned into surpluses. In 1998 before he was fired, Malaysia gained a 2.4% in surpluses,” said the group.