Anwar: Approval rating drop not the end, spurs Harapan to improve

The steep fall in the Pakatan Harapan goverment's approval rating is not definitive and should instead spur the ruling coalition to improve, said PKR president Anwar Ibrahim.

"Merdeka Center's survey is an opinion (survey) which helps with giving input. We need to look at our weaknesses.

"We take it positively but a survey is a survey, it is not definitive. We must understand that, because some people think it is final.

"It should guide us to improve ourselves, be it with regard to the people's perception or the course of action that we must undertake to become better," he told a press conference in Kota Bharu today.

Anwar was responding to a survey by independent pollster Merdeka Center which found that the federal government's approval rating had declined from 79 percent when it first took power in May 2018 to 39 percent in March.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's approval rating had also declined from a high of 83 percent to 46 percent in the same period.

Anwar acknowledged that there was unhappiness among the people towards the Pakatan Harapan government.

"This is due to the people's high hopes and it is hard for the people to understand the problems plaguing the country," he said.

The survey also found that several policies that were being pushed by the government, while appearing progressive, did not sit well with voters.

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