‘Happy with PM but worried about life’
While most Malaysians are happy with the Prime Minister’s performance in his first six months in office, health and bread and butter issues were uppermost on their minds.
In a survey completed on Aug 10, the Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research found that 69% of respondents are satisfied with Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
“The Prime Minister’s approval rating continues to be in a comfortable, positive territory, considering that he has held the position since March 2020,” it said.
It said a similar tendency was found in the public evaluation of the Federal Government, with 58% of voters happy with the Perikatan Nasional government. However, 28% were dissatisfied and angry.
Interestingly, the survey showed that Malaysians of different income levels held contrasting views of the government.
“Around three-quarters of the respondents whose monthly household income is less than RM2,000 expressed positive views
The Prime Minister’s approval rating continues to be in a comfortable, positive territory, considering that he has held the position since March 2020.
Merdeka Centre
towards the government, but only 40% of those earning more than RM7,000 a month had positive views,” it said.
The survey found that 51% of those polled believed that the country was heading in the right direction, attributing this to an efficient administration and leadership.
But 34% disagreed and expressed frustration over the perceived political instability and complained about unemployment and the adverse business climate.
Despite the confidence in Muhyiddin’s administration, most of those surveyed were still worried about the effects of the Covid19 pandemic and the movement control order on the economy.
Although the survey showed six out of 10 respondents being concerned about the national economy, 93% were satisfied with how the government managed the crisis and 61% confident in the government’s handling of the economy.
Merdeka Centre conducted the survey between July 15 and Aug 10 to gauge voters’ perception of the national economy, leadership and on current issues.
It interviewed 3,415 registered voters comprising 52% Malays, 29% Chinese, 7% Indians, 6% Muslim bumiputra and 6% non-Muslim bumiputra.