Resounding ‘yes’ for Anwar as PM in online poll

KUALA LUMPUR – Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is the top choice for prime minister, according to a recent Twitter poll.

The PKR president secured 69.6% of the votes from nearly 40,000 total responses, a resounding lead against other candidates in the poll carried out by The Vibes on Twitter.

The other politicians in the poll were Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Tengku Razaleigh Tengku Hamzah and Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, who are all from Umno.

The poll, which asked netizens who their top choice for prime minister would be should Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin resign, ran for 24 hours starting last Sunday.

In that time, 37,407 Twitter users cast their votes.

If PM @MuhyiddinYassin resigns tomorrow, who will be your next PM of choice? ?

— TheVibes.com (@thevibesnews) August 15, 2021

Hishammuddin came in second with 15.2% of the votes, followed by Ismail Sabri with 10.3%, while Tengku Razaleigh was the least popular with only 4.9%.

The poll began a day before Muhyiddin officially announced his resignation as prime minister, leaving the nation’s top post vacant to a slew of contenders.

In another poll yesterday on who Twitter users thought was the most hard-working minister from the Perikatan Nasional government, coming up tops with 89% of the votes from 5,850 respondents was Khairy Jamaluddin.

Khairy is spearheading the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.

Coming in second was Hishammuddin, with 5% of the votes.

In third place with 4% was former finance minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz. 

Former deputy prime minister Ismail Sabri came in last with just 2%.

The former defence minister had, since March last year, been routinely announcing the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the nation’s numerous lockdowns.

‘Like old wine in a new bottle’

Political analyst Oh Ei Sun said he believes Anwar or former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad are the two candidates best suited for the role, considering the current situation the country faces.

“We need somebody resolute who can make tough decisions and have a lot of experience,” he told The Vibes.

As for likely candidates to take the post, Oh said Anwar and Ismail Sabri are the two main contenders.

“But Ismail Sabri is very uninspiring after coming from the same cabinet as Muhyiddin, and he was rooting for Muhyiddin.

“But when support for Muhyiddin was declining, he (Ismail Sabri) turned around and sought support for himself, which is rather unseemly, and a government led by him is like old wine in a new bottle.”

Oh said the veteran, Tengku Razaleigh, is up there among the candidates as he is a non-controversial figure.

As for Hishammuddin, Oh said it is difficult for the public to dislike him as he is eloquent with a “slightly more open and liberal” outlook. However, he appears to lack the support of party members and parliamentarians.

He also said that Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal is a “dark horse” candidate who should not be discounted from the race.

Azmi Hassan, a political observer from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, said both Anwar and Ismail Sabri are popular choices due to the backing they have from their parties and political partners.

“I see Tengku Razaleigh and Dr Mahathir as the dark horses right now,” he said, adding support for the two veteran leaders is seemingly low among MPs.

“A new prime minister would need support from both sides of the political divide. So, for Anwar and Ismail Sabri, they are not dark horses as they can gain support from both sides.” 

Both analysts were not privy to the results of the Twitter polls. – The Vibes, August 17, 2021