Merdeka Center: PM approval rating is 67pct, stable

 

Independent pollster Merdeka Center said Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin enjoys a 67 percent approval rating in Peninsular Malaysia and described his rating as stable.

Paradoxically, the survey found most respondents believed the country was "heading in the wrong direction" and that the economy was in "decline".

Muhyiddin's highest approval rating recorded by Merdeka Center was 74 percent between June and July last year. The lowest rating recorded was 63 percent in January.

The vast majority of Malay respondents (83 percent) approve of Muhyiddin, compared to a 30 percent approval rate from Chinese respondents and 66 percent from Indian respondents respectively.

The survey was carried out by Merdeka Center between March 31 and April 12, involving 2,111 respondents comprising 64 percent Malays, 28 percent Chinese and eight percent Indian.

The survey was conducted through fixed-line and mobile telephones with respondents selected through random stratified sampling to reflect age, ethnicity, gender and electoral constituencies. The poll was funded by Merdeka Center internally.

The majority of respondents (46 percent) believed the country was "heading in the wrong direction".

Among the top grouses were political instability (27.3 percent of respondents), unfavourable economic conditions (15.5 percent), and poor government ministration (7.9 percent).

The majority of Chinese and Indian respondents believed the country was "heading in the wrong direction" while a slight majority of Malay respondents (54 percent) believed otherwise.

The number of Malay respondents who believed the country was in the "right direction" has dropped from a high of 82 percent in May last year.

Respondents who are government/government-linked company staff, living on the east coast, and youths were more likely to believe the country is heading in the right direction.

The top three positives for those who believe the country was in the "right direction" were good government administration (23 percent), welfare programmes (10.4 percent), and peaceful conditions (5.3 percent).

All ethnic groups agreed that the economy was the biggest problem faced by the country followed by the spread of Covid-19. Only a minuscule 2.4 percent of respondents cited politics as the country's biggest problem.

Meanwhile, the number of people who believed that the economy and their personal finances were worst off compared to a year ago was on the rise since the middle of last year.

- Mkini