IF YOU BELIEVE MERDEKA CENTER SURVEYS – THEN ‘TIN KOSONG’ ANWAR HAS 68% APPROVAL RATING AS PM – TRUE OR FALSE, WHAT’S REAL IS AT LEAST MORE THAN TWICE OF MALAYSIANS FEEL THE COUNTRY & ECONOMY IS NOW HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION – AND THE MAJORITY APPROVE OF PAKATAN & UMNO JOINING FORCES IN NEW GOVT

Business, Politics | February 10, 2023 5:33 pm by | 0 Comments

Survey: Anwar gets 68pct approval rating as PM

Over two-thirds of the respondents interviewed for a survey, or 68 percent, gave Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim positive ratings for his leadership.

The survey by Merdeka Center was carried out in the second month after the 15th general election.

Anwar’s approval ratings were highest among Indians (91 percent), with Chinese respondents coming in second (73 percent).

He received about 70 percent approval ratings from Sabah and Sarawak’s bumiputera respondents, and 60 percent from Malays.

Some 20 percent of the respondents voiced dissatisfaction with Anwar’s performance at the time.

The same survey also saw 54 percent of the respondents saying they were satisfied with the overall performance of the new federal government, while 25 percent reported dissatisfaction.

In terms of ethnicity, the federal government obtained positive responses from Indians (67 percent), Chinese (65 percent), Malays (48 percent), non-Muslim bumiputeras (42 percent) and Muslim bumiputeras (39 percent).

The survey also found that a vast majority (79 percent) welcomed the results of the general election.

Additionally, 83 percent of the respondents favoured the Yang di-Pertuan Agong appointing Anwar as the 10th prime minister.

Of the respondents, 77 percent believed that the unity government can bring about stability and inclusiveness to the country’s politics, with 75 percent accepting Perikatan Nasional’s decision to remain as opposition.

Plus, 66 percent of them accepted BN’s decision to join the Pakatan Harapan-led government.

Other positives from the survey include:

• 48 percent believe the country is now headed in the right direction, compared to just 20 percent in October 2022

• 43 percent expressed optimism about the national economy in the coming year, up from 23 percent in October 2022;

• 38 percent were optimistic about their personal financial prospects compared to 26 percent in October 2022.

Other key issues

Based on the survey, some respondents are concerned about economic growth and cost of living, at 20 percent and 19 percent, respectively.

This was followed by increasing investment in the economy, fighting corruption and improving the quality of education.

The survey was carried out between Dec 26, 2022 and Jan 15, 2023 to gauge voters’ perceptions of current developments.

Some 1,209 registered voters comprising 52 percent Malay, 29 percent Chinese, seven percent Indian, six percent Muslim bumiputera and six percent non- Muslim bumiputera, (from Sabah and Sarawak) were interviewed via fixed line and mobile telephones.

The respondents were selected based on random stratified sampling along age group, ethnicity, gender and state constituency.

It is to be noted that nearly one-quarter of those interviewed refrained from giving their views.

MKINI