Opinion Research Centre
themalaysianinsight.com | 23-Apr-2021 – PRIME Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s approval rating remains stable at 67% amid concerns over the economy and the Covid-19 pandemic, a recent survey of Peninsular Malaysia voters revealed.
The survey by Merdeka Centre showed that Muhyiddin retained strong support from the Malay electorate at 83% as compared to 30% and 66% from the Chinese and Indian communities respectively.
themalaysianinsight.com | 23-Apr-2021 – ONLY 21% – or one out of five Malaysians – polled by Merdeka Centre were “very satisfied” with Putrajaya’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The survey, carried out between March and April, showed that 49% of the respondents were satisfied, while 19% were dissatisfied.
straitstimes.com | 23-Apr-2021 – KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s approval ratings have barely dipped despite Malaysia experiencing its worst wave of coronavirus infections earlier this year, with nearly seven in 10 still giving him the thumbs up.
While 67 per cent of over 2,000 voters surveyed by top pollster Merdeka Centre from March 31 to April 12 said they were satisfied with Tan Sri Muhyiddin, 83 per cent of the crucial Malay electorate – which forms the majority in more than half of Parliament’s 222 seats – approved of his premiership.
“The survey indicates… signs of optimism after the reopening of the economy along with the commencement of the vaccination roll-out,” the centre said in a statement on Friday (April 23).
“This is manifested in the still strong approval for the Prime Minister and reasonable confidence in the handling of the pandemic and economy – despite the stressed conditions voters report for their own personal financial conditions and their perception of the economy.”
Economic concerns (57 per cent) and the spread of Covid-19 (16 per cent) were ranked as the top concerns in the poll.
Merdeka Center has also consistently found more Malaysians expressing a decline rather than an improvement in their personal finances and the national economy for the past seven years.
Yet, satisfaction with the Muhyiddin administration’s economic management has been positive throughout, except in January, when only 45 per cent said they were happy, from a high of 65 per cent last May.
Backing for the government’s economic chops is now at 51 per cent.
When satisfaction with the government’s handling of the pandemic was at a high of 93 per cent in August last year – daily infections were often in single digits – Mr Muhyiddin’s approval was at 69 per cent.
A low of 63 per cent backing the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president in January coincided with happiness in his government’s Covid-19 performance dropping to 53 per cent. Strict movement curbs had to be reimposed and new cases reached nearly 6,000 then.
Faith in the administration’s pandemic response rebounded to 70 per cent this month as daily infections dropped below 1,000 although the 2,000 mark has been breached the whole of the past week.
Mr Muhyiddin’s popularity remains a key consideration for his fledgling Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition, especially after Umno – the largest party in his government – declared it would go its separate way once an election is called.
The premier has vowed that fresh polls would be held once a much-criticised emergency, declared ostensibly to see off the pandemic, is lifted.
The King declared the seven-month-long emergency in January on the Muhyiddin administration’s advice, allowing the premier to suspend Parliament and avoid challenges to his majority which has been in doubt since the turn of the year.
Apart from Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), the Bersatu-led PN is largely viewed as not having a strong grassroots machinery ahead of its firstgeneral election.
Instead, Umno hopes to reclaim its dominance of Malaysian politics, which ended after six uninterrupted decades when the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition – which Bersatu was part of – shockingly won the 2018 polls.
Many analysts believe a three-way battle between PH, PN and the Umno-led Barisan Nasional will be so tightly fought that an outright majority will not be won on election night.
malaysiakini.com | 23-Apr-2021 –
Independent pollster Merdeka Center said Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin enjoys a 67 percent approval rating in Peninsular Malaysia and described his rating as stable.
Muhyiddin’s highest approval rating recorded by Merdeka Center was 74 percent between June and July last year. The lowest rating recorded was 63 percent in January.
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malaymail.com | KUALA LUMPUR, April 23 — Despite the majority of Malaysians still unhappy over the direction of the country, an increased approval rating for Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin indicates increasing optimism for the Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration, Merdeka Center suggested today.
“In our view, the survey indicates a West Malaysian electorate that is exhibiting some signs of optimism after the reopening of the economy along with the commencement of the vaccination rollout.
“This is manifested in the still strong approval for the prime minister and reasonable confidence in the handling of the pandemic and economy — despite the still stressed conditions voters report for their own personal financial conditions and their perception of the economy,” it said in a statement.
Its recent survey which polled 2,111 respondents from March 31 to April 12 showed that 41 per cent of them agreed the country is headed in the right direction, with 46 per cent disagreeing, and the rest unsure.
However when juxtaposed against the general sentiment towards Muhyiddin’s leadership as prime minister, 67 per cent of respondents expressed satisfaction with him at the wheel, 30 per cent were dissatisfied, and three per cent undecided.
The last survey conducted in January saw Muhyiddin obtaining only a 63 per cent approval rating, with 50 per cent of respondents having disagreed with the country’s direction earlier this year.
As for the 46 per cent of respondents who did not think the country is heading in the right direction, their main concern is the general political instability, followed by the country’s economic performance with specific grouses such as rising cost of living, and employment.
These respondents also expressed worries towards the quality of administration in the government, with others issues being incompetent leaders and racial inequality.
In order of importance, these respondents listed economic concerns, the curbing of the Covid-19 pandemic, politics, racial issues, and leadership abilities as their top worries.
For the 41 per cent who agreed with the country’s direction, a majority of them revealed they felt the government is being administered well, and that the welfare of the people are being looked after.
A portion were also content with the gains and the favourable economic condition, a portion attributing their yes votes to the peace enjoyed in the country, and a few who agreed the current political situation is sufficiently stable.
However, when quizzed specifically on the country’s economy, 68 per cent of respondents said they felt it has deteriorated, 19 per cent said it has improved, seven per cent who said nothing has changed, and the remaining unsure.
Across the board, the majority of respondents from be it racial groups, male and female participants, those with or without a college level education, even and those in urban and rural settings felt the economy is going through a decline.
Even respondents across different age categories, professions, and household income groups agreed that the declining country’s economy is experiencing a slump.
As for the government’s handling of the economy 51 per cent of respondents expressed satisfaction, with 43 per cent disagreeing with government’s handling.
When broken down into racial groups, 66 per cent of Malay respondents provided positive answers to the country’s management of the economy, 47 per cent of Indians agreeing, with only 17 per cent of Chinese respondents feeling the same.
But when tested across professions, most of the test groups consisting of those employed in the government of government-linked companies (66 per cent), those in the private sector (48 per cent) and the self employed (51 per cent) said they agreed with the government’s management of the economy.
