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KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has received the go-ahead from seven out of 10 Malaysians for tackling the country’s coronavirus pandemic, but his popularity has fallen below 70% for the first time this month since he took office. in March.
Top pollster Merdeka Center said on Wednesday (Sept. 2) that a poll found that 69 percent of 3,415 voters surveyed between July 15 and Aug. 10 approved of his leadership in handling the Covid-19 outbreak.
The last time a prime minister scored higher was in the first 100 days of the Mahathir Mohamad administration amid the euphoria of Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) shocking election victory in May 2018.
About 93 percent also said they were satisfied with the government’s performance in managing the Covid-19 pandemic, 68 percent helping those in need, and 61 percent managing the economy.
Unsurprisingly, Tan Sri Muhyiddin scored much higher among the Bumiputera, a term used to collectively refer to the Malay majority and other indigenous tribes, with more than nine out of 10 supporting him, compared to other communities.
Only a third of Chinese approved of Muhyiddin, who leads a government dominated by the prime minister’s Bumputera parties, including the three main Malay Muslim groups, Umno, Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.
“In our view, this increased support from Malaysian voters comes from a positive management of the Covid-19 pandemic, a rapid response in the provision of financial aid to affected low-income households and businesses, as well as satisfaction latent to see the Malays The political parties that had been in competition for decades with each other finally came together in a pact, “Merdeka Center chief Ibrahim Suffian said in a statement.
However, the Merdeka Center said the poll also found that Muhyiddin’s popularity has dropped below 70 percent for the first time since he took office on March 1. The survey was not conducted in the first two months due to movement restrictions to curb the virus. outbreak, which fuels momentum among ruling party leaders to conduct early polls and capitalize on positive sentiment about handling Covid-19.
But amid the pushes between Bersatu and Umno, who ruled Malaysia for six decades from independence to 2018, to gain influence within the ruling pact ahead of new elections expected in months, there is widespread support among Malaysians for these parties unite.
The poll showed that around 65 and 68 percent, respectively, want Umno and PAS to be part of Muhyiddin’s Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition, while six out of 10 say that Bersatu should also be part of Muafakat Nasional (MN ), the set of platforms of Malay Muslim interest. by Umno and PAS last year.
The only coalition that most Malaysians are satisfied with is PN, and 51 percent say they are happy with the pact. The happiness and dissatisfaction levels for BN are at 40 percent and MN remained at 37 percent on both sides. For PH, now the main opposition coalition, only a quarter of Malaysians are happy with it.
Three-quarters of Malays are also happy with PN, compared to 70% for MN and 57% for BN.
However, there is bad news for former Prime Minister Najib Razak, who remains popular with a segment of Malaysian supporters. There is more agreement with his July conviction for abuse of power in the 1MDB saga on all demographics than there is disagreement, and even among Malaysians, 57 percent believe the High Court made the right decision.
Najib is appealing the verdict, which would exclude him from participating in the upcoming elections.
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