KUALA LUMPUR — The Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition must act fast to regain the support of Malaysians in their 20s after a market research study found that the youth are increasingly dissatisfied with the ruling pact over the declining economy.

Kajidata Research tracked the political leanings of 9,071 Malaysians aged 21 years old and above from before the 14th general election, and found that overall satisfaction for PH had slipped by 16.4 points in December, with the biggest fall seen in the 20-29 age bracket at 20.6 points.

It found that economic confidence had dropped of 6.5 points since GE14, and as of December 2018, the score was almost back to the level of when Barisan Nasional was in power.

“Though the decline in economic confidence was true for all age groups, the large drop within the youth bracket suggests that they may have become disillusioned with Pakatan Harapan’s management of the national economy,” Kajidata said in a report accompanying the study results.

The firm said that the youth were the most likely to support Pakatan Harapan before GE14, but they were now “the group that is most likely to oppose it”.

“According to various running indicators from as far back as 2015, it was clear to Kajidata that support for Pakatan Harapan, particularly among the youth has declined significantly since the coalition’s victory on May 9, 2018,” it said.

“The younger generation is now the least satisfied with Pakatan Harapan in addition to having the lowest economic confidence.”

In contrast, Kajidata said young Malaysians now had a more positive perception of the opposition Barisan Nasional.

The firm urged the ruling government to invest effort in understanding the sentiments of the youth who have turned away from the coalition, noting that young voters would play a key role in the next general election due in 2022.

“It is imperative that Pakatan Harapan understands in detail why the youth have turned away from the coalition and what can be done to win them back,” Kajidata said.

Kajidata conducted the study via computer-aided telephone interviews across the 222 parliamentary constituencies, including in Sabah and Sarawak. The study lasted nearly a year from January 1 to December 1 last year. THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT