The political perception of the youths in the state assembly area of Bagan Pinang, Negeri Sembilan

This paper analyses the youths’ political perceptions and participation patterns in a by-election held on October 11, 2009 in the state assembly area of Bagan Pinang, Negeri Sembilan, which saw the contest for the 8th time of the ruling BN and the opposition parties . Based on the results of questionnaires and field observations, the study found that 88 percent of youths in the area had access to political information from television. In terms of candidate selection criteria, 76 percent of respondents chose the candidate whom they deemed friendly and was of local origin. The party which capitalised on the issues of development and poverty instead of personality during the election campaign was the favoured one. The study also found that the youths regarded the BN’s slogan One Malaysia: Priority to the People and Achievement as worthy of their support. So were the policies and leadership of the Prime Minister and his deputy, in particular, the newly instituted Key Performance Indicators of the members of parliament and of the state and federal ministers. Interestingly, the majority of the youth respondents would opt for a return of the former Chief Minister to power in spite of his previous guilty verdict by the BN’s disciplinary committee.