Thrice-crowned Asian top debater Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, the spokesperson for Challenger, said the poll of 5,006 Malaysian students showed that 4,586 (91.61%) had lost confidence in Najib’s administration.
“In almost every form, one of the answers listed by the respondents was to remove Najib. That definitely indicates the students’ wish (to see the country governed by a new leader),” said Syed Saddiq when contacted by FMT.
The survey, conducted on youths aged between 18 and 30 currently attending universities both in and outside Malaysia, was to gauge the level of support for Najib among university students.
Asked if they believed Najib was a leader with integrity, 4,460 (89.09%) of the respondents replied with a resounding “no”, Syed Saddiq said.
Asked what actions the government should take to recapture the hearts of Malaysian youths, 4,889 respondents, who answered this question, said it included an increase in job opportunities and wages to cope with the rising cost of living.
They also listed “combating corruption, institutional reforms, Najib’s removal, free education or scholarships, freedom of academic expression” as well as religious freedom as some of the actions that could swing their confidence back towards the Government.
Syed Saddiq said the survey results show that university students “can no longer be fooled by the “continuous deceptions and lies” made by the administration to deflect accountability.
In a statement earlier, giving details of the survey, Syed Saddiq said students in the respective universities distributed the survey forms to fellow students at a minimum of four faculties in each university, and that they also used social media such as Facebook and twitter to spread the message.
“And if there are those who say online surveys are inaccurate, let me assure you that we manually distributed the forms in the respective universities, going to at least four faculties to ensure that they were as spread out as possible.
“I suggest the government look at all these indicators.
“If they (the administration) truly believe in the make believe that Najib still has the support of university students, then enjoy being the opposition after the next (general) election,” he said sarcastically.