Madani haters belittle pollster’s claim of stellar support, confidence in PMX’s leadership

 

DETRACTORS are seemingly mocking the recent Merdeka Centre findings that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim remains the country’s most favoured political leader with a 52% approval rating, hence should be accorded a second term after the 16th General Election (GE16).

Worse still, they were in stitches when PMX expressed his gratitude to the survey which ranked him as the most liked political leader in the country.

Nevertheless, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman was modest to stress that the recognition should not make a leader complacent but rather should be used as a catalyst to continue improving performance and working harder for the people.

The survey which was carried out between March 12 and April 9 this year also found that 42% of Malaysian voters continue to believe that the country is moving in the right direction despite growing international uncertainties and economic challenges.

However, the ground feel based on a Facebook post on the subject by Malay language MalaytsiaGazette which has amassed 47K likes, 12.4K comments and 815 shares at the time of writing found that majority of the ‘respondents’ were at odds with pollster Merdeka Centre’s findings.

“My research shows that 95% of the people reject the Madani government in the upcoming GE16 … Aamiin,” jibed a commenter.

As per PMX’s excitement of being well-received, another commenter contended sarcastically that there are “many types of syok (gratification) which could derive from eating, sleeping or going for picnic but the most famous is syok sendiri (self-absorbed)”.

Few commenters teased PMX that the “laughing emoji ” he garnered has been overwhelming on almost all his (FB) posts. (Editor’s Note: More than 86% of likes on the said FB post are indeed laughing emojis as opposed to thumbs-up emoji).

As one commenter crudely put it, PMX “is most susceptible to self-praise for he thinks that he’s the most perfect PM past and present”. “This is despite he being the least performing,” added the commenter.

Back to the Merdeka Centre findings, the pollster said the percentage is unchanged from the figures recorded in December 2025 and February 2026.

“Across ethnic groups, 39% of Malay respondents said the country is moving in the right direction compared to 50% among Chinese respondents and 33% among Indian respondents,” it said in a statement.

“By age group, respondents aged between 21 and 30 recorded the highest positive sentiment at 57% while those aged 51 to 60 were the least optimistic at just 32%.”

In terms of overall approval of the Federal government, 50% of respondents expressed satisfaction while 48% said they were dissatisfied.

Across ethnic groups, both Muslim and non-Muslim Bumiputera respondents from Sabah and Sarawak registered the highest satisfaction levels at 68% followed by Chinese respondents at 53%.

Satisfaction among Indian and Malay respondents stood at 46% and 44% respectively. –  Focus Malaysia