Extra details on leaked survey rain on PN's parade as leaders tank among non-Malays while PM leads overall

 

Additional leaked findings from a Merdeka Center survey indicate that the opposition’s earlier celebrations over their leaders’ “approval ratings” may have been premature, with the fuller picture instead putting Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in the lead.

Malaysiakini earlier reported that a singular leaked slide from the study generated resounding cheers from Perikatan Nasional supporters who lauded their leaders’ supposedly higher standing within the Malay community.

At the time, no other information or findings for the study conducted between March 12 and April 9 titled “National Public Opinion Survey: Perception Towards Economy, Leadership, and Current Issues” had been released, including sample size and the sentiments of other communities.

However, two other leaked slides which recently made the rounds on social media show additional features of the survey: satisfaction ratings among non-Malay respondents, and an overall aggregate across all communities.

A representative with Merdeka Centre confirmed with Malaysiakini that the two additional slides are part of the same study.

Anwar Ibrahim

Among non-Malays, PKR president and Pakatan Harapan chairperson Anwar came out on top with a 59 percent satisfaction rating and a 40 percent dissatisfaction score - a marked contrast to his more modest 45 percent satisfaction and 51 percent dissatisfaction among Malay voters.

In contrast, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who the Malay-only findings listed as the leader with the least amount of support (31 percent satisfied, 60 percent dissatisfied), also performed poorly in the non-Malay segment at 13 percent satisfied and 71 percent dissatisfied.

Umno exile-turned-returnee Khairy Jamaluddin, who topped the Malay charts at 62 percent, dropped sharply to a 31 percent approval rate among non-Malays, with 44 percent of those surveyed for this section expressing their dissatisfaction with the former health minister.

Worst fared

While former economy minister Rafizi Ramli fared similarly at 29 percent satisfied and 43 percent dissatisfied, the numbers turned punishing for opposition figures, with Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin garnering just 13 percent approval against a towering 80 percent dissatisfaction ranking.

While PAS figures had earlier championed party vice-president Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar as a role model based on the Malay-only slide, non-Malays delivered a shot of reality to the PN chairperson with a mere six percent approval rating contrasted with a staggering 39 percent dissatisfaction rate.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang fared the worst of all among non-Malay respondents, with only four percent satisfied and a whopping 81 percent dissatisfied.

Abdul Hadi Awang

The overall aggregate slide further tempers the opposition’s earlier triumph, with Anwar again leading the overall satisfaction ranking with 52 percent, coupled with a 44 percent dissatisfaction rate.

The prime minister’s ranking, however, is a slight dip from his approval rating last May, which put him at 55 percent across the board while his disapproval rating was at 36 percent. There was no ethnic breakdown released for last year's approval ratings.

Catastrophic numbers

While his approval rating this year is closely followed by Khairy at 50 percent, Umno president Zahid, however, trailed far behind at the last spot on the polls, with a 24 percent approval rating.

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The BN chairperson’s ranking is only just topped by Hadi (25 percent), Terengganu menteri besar Samsuri (28 percent), Parti Bersama Malaysia co-leader Rafizi (32 percent) and former prime minister Muhyiddin (36 percent).

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi

While Zahid also suffered the worst blow with a 61 percent rating on overall dissatisfaction rankings, Hadi and Muhyiddin appeared to give him some competition with their 55 percent ratings.

With Rafizi sharing Anwar’s 44 percent overall dissatisfaction rating, Khairy’s 31 percent and Samsuri’s 29 percent scores from disapproving voters made up the rest of the polls.

While PAS figures had attempted to build a narrative around Samsuri’s “low rejection” among Malays, his overall numbers suggest he is largely unknown or irrelevant beyond his base rather than genuinely popular.

For Zahid, his catastrophic numbers across the three segments - last among Malays, near-last among non-Malays, and dead last overall - could hamper his recently revealed aspirations to be prime minister. - Mkini