Majority of Malaysians satisfied with Muhyiddin - Survey

The survey noted that nine out of 10 Malay and Bumiputera from Sabah and Sarawak gave Muhyiddin the thumbs up, while 65% of Indians and 33% of Chinese were also satisfied with Muhyiddin.

“The prime minister’s approval rating continues to be in a comfortable, positive territory considering that he has held the position only since March 2020,” according to the statement issued by Merdeka Center on the survey results, here today.

The survey to gauge voters’ perceptions towards the economy, leadership and current issue, was carried out from July 15 to Aug 10 and involved 3,415 registered voters with their ethnic composition reflecting the national electoral profile who were interviewed fixed-line and mobile telephones.

According to the statement, the survey also found a similar tendency in the public evaluation of the federal government with 58% of the voters being happy with the performance of Perikatan Nasional (PN) government while 28% dissatisfied and angry.

“Interestingly, gap of income is one of the indicators to differentiate who agree or disagree with the performance of the government.

“Around three-quarter of the respondents whose household income is less than RM2,000 per month expressed positive views towards the federal government, but only 40% were positive among those whose household income were higher than RM7,000 per month,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, the survey also indicated that 93% of respondents were satisfied with how the government managed the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than half of the respondents also agreed the government had been helpful to those in need (68%) and in managing the economy (61%).

At the same time, 51% of the respondents felt the country was headed in the right direction, attributing their reply to good administration (26%) and leadership (21%).

The PN government also enjoyed the highest positive perception from voters among the contemporary political coalitions and parties in Malaysia, with 51% of respondents viewing the coalition positively and only 27% otherwise.

“On the other hand, positive view of Muafakat Nasional (MN) is only 37%, and the number is slightly lower for MN component PAS (39%) and Barisan Nasional (40%).

“Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, which has expressed to join MN recently, only scored 28% positive rating and 39% negative. Pakatan Harapan scored the highest negative rating (52%), and only 25% are happy with this coalition formed by PKR, DAP, and Amanah,” it said.

The survey also found that 61% of respondents agreed with the recent High Court’s decision involving former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak while only 18% answered otherwise.

On July 28, The High Court sentenced Najib to a total of 72 years in jail and fined him RM210 million after finding him guilty on seven cases of criminal breach of trust (CBT), money laundering and abuse of position involving RM42 million in SRC International Sdn Bhd funds.