Unfair to judge PM by recent poll, says Zuraida
It is unfair to judge Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad based on the recent Merdeka Centre survey which saw his approval rate plummet by 37 percentage point, said a cabinet minister.
This was because the survey took place on "different platforms", said Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin.
It is unfair to judge Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad based on the recent Merdeka Centre survey which saw his approval rate plummet by 37 percentage point, said a cabinet minister today.
This was because the survey took place on "different platforms", said Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin.
She pointed to the fact that when Mahathir's approval rate was at 83 percent last year, this was because the platform then was that the rakyat had wanted to change the government.
The latest survey which saw his rating dropping to 46 percent in March had been conducted on a different platform, she said.
"It (the platform) was about the administration, about new policies and about fulfilling the manifesto promises. So he is being rated on a different platform," she said.
Asked if the premier should step down, she said: "No." She was speaking during a group interview with the media held at KLIA2 to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Harapan administration.
According to Merdeka Centre, the deterioration in public satisfaction was in tandem with the increase in percentage of those polled who felt the country was “headed in the wrong direction” - from 24 percent in August last year to 46 percent last month.
Of the different ethnicities, confidence among Malay voters was lowest with just 24 percent thinking Malaysia was on the right track, while Indians were the most positive, with 63 percent agreeing that it was.
The survey also showed that the policies - abolishing mandatory death sentence and lowering the voting age to 18-year-old were not resonated well with the people.
Zuraida said Pakatan Harapan, however, should be prepared for the transition of power between Mahathir and PKR president Anwar Ibrahim which is slated to take place next year.
"The whole of Harapan should be ready for the transition of power. You cannot say two years because, in some places, the prime minister and menteri besar come and go.
"(So) everybody should be ready and the country should be prepared. (Then) it should be okay," she said.
"So far, for the change of government, the change of menteri besar and exco members, things have run smoothly. I don't see any catastrophe," she added.
Mahathir has said that he will hand over power to Anwar after two years in office.
