PETALING JAYA: 69 per cent of Malaysian voters are satisfied with the performance of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as the prime minister, according to a survey by Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research completed on Aug 10.
"The survey found some significant ethnic variances, where nine out of 10 Malay and Bumiputera from Sabah and Sarawak gave the PM the thumbs up, while 65 percent of Indians and only 33 percent Chinese were satisfied with him.
"The prime minister's approval rating continues to be in a comfortable, positive territory considering that he has held the position since March 2020. The similar tendency was also found in the public evaluation of the federal government.
"58 percent of voters are happy with the performance of the Perikatan Nasional government led by the PM while 28 percent were dissatisfied and angry," said Merdeka Centre co-founder and programmes director Ibrahim Suffian in a statement today.
Interestingly, he said, the income gap was one of the indicators to differentiate who agreed or disagreed with the performance of the government.
He said around three-quarter of respondents whose household income was less than RM2,000 per month expressed positive views towards the federal government but only 40 per cent were positive among those whose household income were higher than RM7,000 per month.
At the same time, 51 percent of respondents felt the country was headed in the right direction. The number is slightly lower than May this year, but it was still significantly higher than the last six months, he said.
"Between July 2019 and February 2020, only a quarter of Malaysians thought the country was moving on the right track. For those who answered the country is in the right direction, 26 percent of them attributed it to the good administration of the government, while 21 per cent were happy with the leadership.
"Meanwhile, 34 per cent of respondents feel that the country is on the wrong track. Almost one-third (31 per cent) are frustrated because of perceived political instability, and 17 per cent complained about economic problems such as unemployment and an adverse business climate."
Meanwhile, with respect to biggest problems faced by ordinary Malaysians, the poll showed bread-and-butter issues remained a focus among them, with six out of 10 respondents being concerned about the economy.
"Affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, health and wellness were the second largest issue voters were concerned about (10.1 per cent).
"Only 3.5 per cent and 2.6 per cent thought race relations and political issues were the country's main problem, respectively."
The survey also found that 93 percent of respondents were satisfied with how the government managed the Covid-19 pandemic.
Besides that, 68 per cent and 61 per cent also agreed the government has been helpful to those in need, and managing the economy.
At the same time, perceptions of government's performance in fighting corruption dropped 5 per cent within the three-month period, from 43 to 38 per cent.
The survey also gauged public approval of the government's performance in May and August in areas, namely, managing the Covid-19 pandemic (which saw two per cent increase in August from 91 percent in May), helping those in need (three per cent drop from 71 per cent to 68 per cent), managing the economy (three per cent drop from 64 per cent to 61 percent), establishing the rule of law (53 per cent in May, while August's figure is unavailable), creating job opportunities (one per cent drop from 42 per cent to 41 per cent), fighting corruption (five percent drop from 43 per cent to 38 per cent).
The findings for public approval, Ibrahim said, were based on a poll on respondents done from July to August 2020.
Merdeka Centre also noted Perikatan Nasional as "enjoying the highest positive perception from the voters today" among the contemporary coalitions and political parties in Malaysia.
More than half or 51 percent of the respondents view it positively and only 27 percent feel negatively.
"On the other hand, positive views of Muafakat Nasional (MN) is only 37 percent, and the number is slightly lower than its component parties – BN (40 percent) and Pas (39 percent).
"Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), which has expressed to join MN recently, only scored a 28 percent positive view and 39 percent negative."
The survey found that Pakatan Harapan scored the highest negative rating of 52 percent, and only 25 percent of respondents were happy with the coalition comprising PKR, DAP, and Amanah.
The survey also found that 60 percent of Malay voters supported Bersatu's decision to join Muafakat Nasional, which is the coalition formed by Umno and Pas last year.
Meanwhile, 65 percent of Malay voters preferred Umno to be in Perikatan Nasional but 25 per cent others disagreed.
"Similarly, 68 per cent of Malay voters prefer Pas to be a part of the Perikatan Nasional coalition."
Following former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's guilty verdict for abuse of power and money laundering at the High Court on July 28, 61 per cent respondents in this poll agreed with the court's decision while only 18 per cent answered otherwise.
It also noted that 57 per cent of Malay voters also agreed with the court's verdict.
"The survey findings illustrate the strong preference and approval particularly among Malay voters towards the present ruling coalition government headed by Muhyiddin.
"In our view, this increase of Malay voter support takes place on the back of a positive management of the Covid-19 pandemic, rapid response in dispensing financial aid to affected low income households and businesses, as well as the latent satisfaction at seeing Malay political parties which had been in decades-long competition with one another finally coming together in a pact.
"The results also indicate a significant swing of support of Malay voters towards a unified Malay political coalition as exemplified by the large majority of approval gained by Perikatan Nasional and Muafakat Nasional – notwithstanding some contrary views put forth by some leaders in the coalition."
Ibrahim said the survey was carried out by the firm between July 15 and Aug 10 to gauge voters' perceptions towards the economy, leadership and current issues.
He said a total 3,415 registered voters comprising 52 per cent Malay, 29 percent Chinese, 7 per cent Indian, six per cent Muslim Bumiputra, six per cent Non-Muslim Bumiputra, (from Sabah and Sarawak), reflective of the national electoral profile, took part in the survey and were interviewed via fixed line and mobile telephones.
He said respondents were selected on the basis of random stratified sampling along age group, ethnicity, gender and state constituency.