Anwar’s approval rating falls amid economic concerns

A survey has found that a growing proportion of Malaysians are dissatisfied with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his administration, mostly due to economic concerns.

According to Merdeka Center, only half of the respondents of its poll last month gave Anwar the thumbs up, compared to 43 percent who are dissatisfied with his performance.

This is the lowest approval rating for Anwar among the seven surveys the pollster has conducted since he took office in November last year.

Similarly, 48 percent of the survey’s respondents disapproved of the federal government’s performance, compared to 41 percent who were satisfied.

Meanwhile, 60 percent of respondents said they believe Malaysia is going in the wrong direction, compared to 31 percent who think Malaysia is going the right way.

Among those who believe the country is going in the wrong direction, more than half (56 percent) cited economic reasons for their belief.

These include generally unfavourable economic conditions (28.3 percent), high cost of living (22.4 percent), the weakening of the ringgit (1.8 percent) and the minimum wage (1.5 percent).

This contrasts with 7.6 percent who believe economic conditions are good (7.6 percent) or that the economy is improving (2.5 percent).

Political instability

Meanwhile, 12.8 percent cited political instability as the reason for their poor outlook on the country’s future.

“In our opinion, the survey reflects the expectations held by the electorate on the administration to regenerate economic growth as well as address longstanding anxiety over inflation and tepid wage growth.

“Other issues that will shape public opinion into the future will include the form and substance of potential subsidies withdrawal, new taxation as well as revamp in the cash transfers programme,” Merdeka Center said in a statement today.

The survey was conducted from Oct 4 to Oct 24, polling 1,220 voters across the country via fixed line or mobile phone. For context, Anwar announced his 2024 Budget proposal on Oct 13, while the survey was underway.

The respondents were selected via random stratified sampling to ensure a representative sample in each parliamentary constituency. The survey’s margin of error is estimated to be ±2.81 percent.

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