MALAYSIAKINI Poll: Readers' views on flip-flop Bala

An overwhelming number of

MCPX

Malaysiakini readers who participated in a 24-hour survey believe that private eye P Balasubramaniam was telling the truth in his first statutory declaration, which was retracted a day after it was made public.

A total of 6,418 Malaysiakini readers participated in the one-day survey (see chart below) which went live yesterday morning.

The survey found that 92 percent, or 5,880, of readers believe that Balasubramaniam’s first statutory declaration was true.

Meanwhile, 86 percent of readers are of the opinion that Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak is working with Mohd Saiful Bukhary Azlan, the 23-year-old who claimed he was sodomised by his former boss, PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.

About the same number, 5,102 or 80 percent, dismissed the idea that Anwar was in cahoots with Saiful to bring out the sodomy allegations - the second time such accusations have been levelled against the former deputy premier in 10 years - ostensibly to gain public sympathy.

The survey result is more mixed when readers are asked on who is ‘protecting’ Balasubramaniam, who has been missing since last Friday.

About 40 percent said it was Najib’s people, while 25 percent said they didn’t know.

Despite the police having said that Balasubramaniam had left the country, 54 percent of readers said the controversial private eye is still 'somewhere in Malaysia'.

The police were reported today confirming that they have located Balasubramanian and his family in an "Asean country" but gave no indication when he would return to answer questions on the conflicting statutory declarations.