Najib Razak's Popularity Slipped

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's popularity has slipped in recent months, an opinion poll showed on Friday, as he lost support among ethnic Chinese and middle-class voters ahead of a general elections that he could call within months.

Najib is facing a dilemma over the timing of the election as his National Front coalition seeks to reverse a dismal showing four years ago that deprived it of its two-thirds majority in parliament for the first time.

The 58-year-old leader has enjoyed high personal approval ratings, but analysts say it is unclear whether that will translate into increased support for his less popular UMNO party and its allies.

Support for Najib slid to 65 percent in the May poll from 69 percent in March, according to the Merdeka Center, the country's most respected polling firm.

The dip may add to speculation that Najib may choose to delay elections until after presenting the budget on September 28.

"The small gain in Malay voter satisfaction towards the PM appears to have been outweighed by the large negative swing among Chinese voters," Merdeka Center said in a statement.

The poll found that approval for Najib was weakest among ethnic Chinese, tumbling 19 percentage points to 37 percent and among those in the middle income bracket, falling 18 percentage points to 50 percent. His popularity among ethnic Malays, who form the majority of Malaysia's population, rose 5 percentage points to 79 percent.

Voters' views on the government remained lukewarm, with approval staying unchanged at 48 percent.

The survey was carried out between May 10 and May 18 among 1,019 registered voters to gauge sentiment after an anti-government protest in April.

Najib's popularity has been lifted by giveaways to lower-income households and reforms to repressive security laws. He announced Malaysia's first national minimum wage at the end of April in another boost for poorer voters.

He has faced a tougher struggle winning over middle class voters, however. At least 25,000 demonstrators rallied in Kuala Lumpur in April to demand reforms to an electoral system they say favors the ruling coalition.

The protest ended in chaos after police fired teargas and water cannon to disperse crowds. Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was charged in May for defying a court order related to the protest and could be disqualified from parliament if convicted.

A separate Merdeka Centre poll after the protest showed that 92 percent of Malaysians want shortcomings in the country's electoral rolls to be fixed before the election. That survey also found that only 44 percent of respondents were confident of a free and fair election process.

Bersih 3.0 - The Conspiracy

Lynas Plant Approval After GE 13 if UMNO Wins?

Report from Reuters:

Lynas officials say they are confident the plant will win approval in coming months. Opponents suspect the government is waiting until after the election to approve the plant at a less sensitive time.

"The timing could be all too convenient," said Fuziah Salleh, a local opposition member of parliament who has thrown her weight behind the protest movement. "Basically it is a delay tactic until approval."

GEBENG, Malaysia (Reuters) - The expensive machinery lies silent, idling as Malaysia's government weighs a delicate decision to allow shipments of raw material to arrive from Australia and finally start operations at the world's largest rare earths plant outside China.

At the industrial estate on the country's east coast, 20 or so protesters gathered in the searing afternoon heat have begun a chant. "No to Lynas. Lynas go home!".

The handful of demonstrators seems an unlikely obstacle to plans by Australia's Lynas Corp to build its company-making 2.5 billion ringgit ($800 million) plant, seen as crucial to challenging China's near monopoly on the production of rare earths, used in items ranging from smartphones to smart bombs.

But the expanding protest movement they represent, feeding off broader frustrations with Malaysia's government as elections loom, has already delayed the project by eight months and cast a shadow over its future.

The resistance - fed by social networks and Malaysia's increasingly lively independent online media - also raises broader questions over the global expansion of an industry that has created huge environmental problems in China, which currently accounts for about 95 percent of global supply.

"Western countries don't want it. Why should we in Malaysia?," said Norizan Mokhtar, who lives less than 10 km (6 miles) from the plant in the industrial area of Gebeng, close to fishing villages and Kuantan, a city of half a million people.

"My youngest is six, the effects might not be seen now but in the future. We eat fish every day, what if there is radiation?"

She's afraid controls on the plant will become slack after the first few years.

Lynas has been plagued by delays and controversy in Malaysia since it broke ground on the plant two years ago with the aim of easing China's grip on the supply of rare earths and capitalizing on rising prices for the material.

Its share price has halved since early last year as investors worry that it will lose out in the race to feed surging world demand.

Lynas has orders covering its first 10 years of production. Japan, the world's biggest consumer of rare earths, is counting on Lynas to supply 8,500 tonnes a year by early 2013.

"Our customers are waiting," Mashal Ahmad, the managing director of the Lynas plant, told reporters during a tour of the plant for media last month.

"We have nothing to hide," he said, adding that "too much misinformation" had been spread about the company.


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