Bank Islam suspends chief economist over polls prediction

Bank Islam has suspended its chief economist Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajuddin over his prediction of the likely results of Election 2013.

The Malaysian Insider quoted Azrul Azwar as confirming the suspension.

Last week Singapore's The Straits Times reported that Azrul Azwar predicted a narrow win in Election 2013 by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) as the most likely of three possible scenarios.

Bank Islam was quick to distance itself from Azrul Azwar and in a January 11 statement, its managing director Datuk Seri Zukri Samad regretted that a news report on a Singapore forum had associated the bank with Azrul Azhar's views and forecast.

"The views expressed by azrul at the forum are entirely his personal view and should not be linked or attributed to Bank Islam whatsoever," Zukri wrote in the four-paragraph statement.

If that is the case, then why suspend Azrul Azhar? He was expressing his personal views and he is free to do so as an individual. It is part and parcel of democracy unless Bank Islam did not subscribe to democracy and freedom of speech.

The suspension of Azrul Azhar is a mockery of democratic principles.



 

PM Najib's approval rating slips, says Merdeka Center

A survey carried among voters in Peninsular Malaysia at the end of December 2012 by MERDEKA CENTER found that Prime Minister Najib Razak's approval rating had slipped slightly from 65% in November 2012 to 63%.

The survey found that while satisfaction among Malay and Indian voters remained strong at 77% and 76% respectively, the sentiment among Chinese voters had dropped to 34%.

According to MERDEKA CENTER, findings from the survey uncovered significant differences in the views expressed by younger compared to older voters, men compared to women voters as well as lower income compared to middle or upper income voters.

The survey also found that voters' perception on the government remained lukewarm with only 45% of the respondents who said that they were "happy with the government" while 47% said that they were "happy with Barisan Nasional". 

The survey was carried out by MERDEKA CENTER for Opinion Research between 15th and 28th Dcember 2012 to gauge voters' perceptions of current developments in Malaysia. 

Some 1,018 registered voters comprising 59% Malay, 32% Chinese  and 9% Indian respondents were interviewed by telephone in the poll.

(MERDEKA CENTER for Opinion Research was formally established in 2001 as an independent organization focused on public opinion research and socio-economic analysis.)