A poll done on 1,000 local students in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) found that BN chairperson Najib Abdul Razak was their pick for prime minister with 67.4 percent favouring him.

azlanPKR de-facto leader and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim took second place with 52.2 percent, while PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang scored 33.1 percent and 15 percent went for DAP party advisor Lim Kit Siang.

The ‘Survey on Graduates Voters Feedback', was commissioned by Yayasan Ehwal Siswazah and carried out at the Universiti Malaya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Putra Malaysia.

The survey also found that the qualities the students wanted to see in the premier was the ability to administer the country, with fairness, and competency.

He should also be with the people and have no skeletons in the cupboard, and able to fulfill his promises.

Preferred choice

In the study, the students had to choose between Najib, Anwar, Abdul Hadi and Lim as their preferred choice for prime minister.

According to the survey, 19.1 percent of the respondents said Najib was less qualified, and 13.5 percent said he was not qualified at all.

For Anwar, 31.6 percent felt the opposition leader was less qualified and 16.2 percent felt he was not qualified at all.

Meanwhile for the PAS president, Abdul Hadi, 42.7 percent felt that he was less qualified, and 24.2 percent felt that Abdul Hadi was not qualified at all.

As for Lim, 23.5 percent felt the DAP veteran leader was less qualified while another 65.5 percent polled felt the Ipoh Timur MP was not qualified at all.

azlanThe survey in UM found that 63 percent of the students felt BN would win in the coming election while 37 percent saw Pakatan winning.

In UKM, 30.1 percent polled said they would vote for Pakatan, while 29.8 percent went for BN. However, a big chunk of the respondents - 40.1 percent - were undecided.

Meanwhile Bernama today reported that the study, which covered more than 3,000 respondents from the three campuses, found that 57 percent of respondents from all three universities found Najib qualified to be the prime minister.

Yayasan Hal Ehwal Siswazah chairperson Mohd Radzi Abdul Latif reportedly said this comprised 75 percent respondents from UKM, UPM ( 67.4 percent) and UM (41.4 percent).

The respondents were all aged 21 and above and were made up of Malays, Chinese and Indians.

The majority are first-time voters. The survey was done between Dec 9 and 12 last year.

Related stories

M'kini most trusted among undergrads, study finds

UM, UKM students more inclined towards Pakatan