KUALA LUMPUR – Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob is the preferred prime minister, with the highest approval rating among five national leaders, a survey revealed.
The survey, conducted by the Endeavour-MGC Research Centre, showed Ismail Sabri leading the poll at 22%, while opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim secured 20% support among Malaysians surveyed.
Former prime minister and Perikatan Nasional chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin came in third with 16% of the survey votes, followed by Barisan Nasional’s Khairy Jamaluddin who received 6% support.
Meanwhile, former defence minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein received 5% support from respondents.
The survey, which polled 1,068 registered voters from all parliamentary constituencies in the peninsula, was carried out between October 8 and 20.
Aside from their choices for prime minister, 27% of the respondents predicted that Ismail Sabri would remain prime minister, while 26% believed Anwar would helm the top post.
Muhyiddin came in third again for the predictions as 21% of the respondents believed he would return to Putrajaya, while 10% believed Khairy would be PM.
Meanwhile, only 7% of the respondents believed Umno deputy president and Rembau candidate, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, would ascend as prime minister.
Interestingly, Ismail Sabri, who is contesting in Pahang’s Bera parliamentary constituency, achieved a 57% approval rating among respondents despite the same figure disapproving the BN-led government’s handling of the rising cost of living.
However, 51% of those surveyed approved of the Pakatan Harapan government between May 2018 and February 2020.
On party leadership, the survey found that Ismail Sabri and Khairy secured first and second place respectively, with 31% and 21% of respondents feeling that the two leaders were the best to lead Umno.
The survey also saw Hishamuddin coming in third with 13% support, while Mohamad Hassan and Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi trailed at 10% and 4% respectively.
As for PKR, Anwar Ibrahim was the clear favourite candidate with 43%, followed by his daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar at 15%.
PKR adviser Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail received 9% support while the party’s deputy president Rafizi Ramli obtained 8% of the respondents’ votes. – The Vibes, November 13, 2022
