AS the Madani administration marks its second year in office, Merdeka Center’s early December 2024 survey found that a majority of Malaysian voters gave 10th Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim a positive approval rating of 54% compared to 50% one year ago.
Voters were generally satisfied with the prime minister’s performance across a number of areas (i.e, attracting investments, improving the country’s image, and improving the civil service) but gave mixed assessment when asked about the efforts to strengthen the economy.
At the same time, the federal government (unity government) rating presently stands at 51% compared to 46% at November 2023.
In a statement, Merdeka Center said dissatisfaction towards the federal government presently stands at 47%. The tight spread between positives and negatives are largely driven by persistent concerns about cost of living pressures and some anxiety over subsidy cuts slated to take place in the future.
As in the past, voter sentiments remain focused on the economy, as largely driven by their concerns over the economy, where 65% state as the “number one problem facing people in the country today”, though high, has dropped from 74% one year ago.
53% think the country is headed in the wrong direction (compared to 54% one year ago), while the number of voters that think the country is heading in the right direction improves slightly at 39% compared to 36% in November 2023.
The major reasons for the wrong direction are economic issues (47%), political instability (7%) and poor administration (8%).
The survey was carried out by the Merdeka Center between 27th November to 10th October 2024 to gauge voters’ perceptions of current developments. 1,207 registered voters.
This comprised 52% Malay, 29% Chinese, 7% Indian, 6% Muslim Bumiputera, 6% Non- Muslim Bumiputra, (from Sabah and Sarawak) , reflective of the national electoral profile, were interviewed via fixed line and mobile telephones. - December 23, 2024
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