Don’t be complacent: Anwar tells Pakatan

A dip in Prime Minister Najib's popularity should not allow Pakatan to think everything is smooth sailing for them, says Anwar.

PERMATANG PAUH: A survey by the pollsters Merdeka Centre may have revealed declining popularity of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak but his main rival and parliamentary Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim is not taking anything for granted.

He calls on his comrades-in-arm in Pakatan Rakyat not to sit on their laurels despite the Merdeka Centre survey was positive and encouraging for the coalition.

“We must continue to work hard to explain to the people on policy matters. We must also improve on our performance, especially by the Pakatan state governments.

“We shall not take it easy,” said Permatang Pauh MP Anwar when attending the Hari Raya open house hosted by Deputy Chief Minister I and PKR state chief Mansor Othman in Kubang Semang here today.

He noted that the findings of Merdeka Centre were undoubtedly a positive sign and healthy political trend favouring Pakatan.

“But we shall not be complacent,” he warned.

Penang governor Abdul Rahman Abbas and his consort Majimor Shariffalso attended the event, which was also attended by Anwar’s wife and PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, DCM II P Ramasamy, state speaker Abdul Halim Hussain, Lembah Pantai MP and Anwar’s daughter Nurul Izzah, and Pakatan’s state legislators and parliamentarians.

The Merdeka Centre survey revealed that political instability, price hikes, unfavourable economic conditions and the Bersih 2.0 rally have caused a significant dent in Umno president and Barisan Nasional chairman Najib’s approval rating.

The recent survey saw 1,027 respondents pushing Najib’s rating down 6% from 65% in May 2011 to 59% in August.

When broken down into ethinic groups, 69% of Malays, 38% of Chinese and 69% of Indians approved of his administration.

Merdeka Centre concluded that the latest rating could be linked to pocket book issues as well as public perception of the government’s handling of the July 9 Bersih rally and its aftermath.

Thirty-nine percent of respondents said they were satisfied with the government’s handling of the Bersih 2.0 issues compared to 48% who felt that the matter could have been dealt with better.

Lack of joyous celebrations
Anwar opined that it was inevitable that Najib would suffer from eroding popularity due to Putrajaya mishandling of the Bersih rally.

He said when the federal government can’t even guarantee a clean, free and fair election, it was inevitable that people remained unconvinced and lacked confidence on the prime minister.

Moreover, he said notwithstanding the Merdeka Centre survey, the people were already facing tremendous hardship due to escalating cost of living, especially on exorbitant hike on essential goods.

He noted that the lack of joyous Hari Raya celebrations reflected the hardship facing the people due to fundamental flaws in the country’s socio-economic policies.

On seat negotiations among Pakatan partners, PKR supremo Anwar said negotiations will be conducted smoothly, unlike the eleventh hour resolutions achieved in 2008.

He said currently several lower level issues have remained in negotiations at state levels but none has been brought up to the attention of Pakatan’s top leadership.

“Nothing has come up to me as yet,” he said.

He called on Pakatan leaders, at all levels, not to announce anything on seat negotiations given that “not all issues have been resolved and finalised.”