Urban Politics: Voter Perceptions and Political Behaviour in Parliamentary Constituency of Petaling Jaya Selatan and Batu

Urban politic is closely related to perceptions and behaviour of voters in the city which is based on local and national political issues, especially in terms of urban public facilities and services. Urban politic is an interesting agenda because of it is dynamics and has position itself in the city centre where it experiencing the process of urbanization and socialization as well as the focal point of all human activities. These processes may eventually cause stress to the city dwellers, and consequently influence the perceptions and political behaviour of the dwellers. This article is to analyze urban politic in two areas in the Klang Valley, namely Batu (Kuala Lumpur) and Petaling Jaya Selatan (Selangor). Based on questionnaires and field observations, 71.0% of respondents in Batu and 57.6% in Petaling Jaya Selatan (PJS) expressed the idea of 1 Malaysia: Rakyat Didahulukan, Pencapaian Diutamakan is supported, internalized and manifested by the voters. In terms of governance, 70.7% (Batu) and 62.9% (PJS) respondents indicated the Key Performance Indicator (KPl) for all elected representatives and the Minister are good and they give support for the government and policy changes made by the Prime Minister s leadership in strengthening the development of the country continues to have support from the people. Meanwhile, the political behavior through voter registration showed that 86.0% and 87.9% in the Batu and PJS have registered as voters, in which respectively 5.8%, (Batu) and 17.9% (PJS) belong to UMNO; 4.4% (Batu) and 13.2% (PJS) joined PAS; 0.1% (Batu) and 21.2% (PJS) are member of DAP; 6.2% (Batu) and 20.7% (PJS) are member of PKR; and 73.1% (Batu) and 54.3% (PJS) did not join any political parties. Voters in Batu constituency would expect BN wrested back the seat of Batu but will be loosing in Petaling Jaya Selatan with a slim margin.