Anwar disagrees with 'flawed' approval rating survey

STATE POLLS | Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he does not agree with a survey that suggested only one in four Malays in the six states having elections this Saturday were satisfied with his performance as leader of the country.

“I don’t agree with that, it’s a flawed analysis.

“Probably they take from Kelantan and compare it with Selangor. But in our states, we are doing extremely well. I am very optimistic,” he said to reporters in Penang today.

He was responding to a question about the results of a survey conducted by Ilham Centre in July.

The survey polled 2,416 respondents in Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, and Penang, who were chosen through randomised stratified sampling.

A total of 102 respondents also participated in Ilham’s in-depth interviews and focus group discussions.

Only 24 percent of Malay respondents said they were satisfied with Anwar, while the approval rating among the Chinese (88 percent) and Indians (81 percent) was overwhelmingly positive.

Overall, only 42 percent of respondents were satisfied with Anwar’s performance.

The survey also found that respondents from Kelantan were the most dissatisfied with Anwar, with 90 percent stating that they disapproved, followed by Terengganu (79 percent), and Kedah (73 percent).

Conversely, Anwar’s approval was the highest in his home state of Penang (70 percent), followed by Selangor (62 percent), and Negeri Sembilan (62 percent).

Given the size of the survey, Ilham Centre says the reported results have a margin of error of five percent.

The six states will head to the polls tomorrow.

- Mkini