PM's aide: Approval ratings survey not reflective of general sentiment

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s political secretary had dismissed the results of a survey which purportedly showed that he had lower public approval ratings than his predecessor, Muhyiddin Yassin.

Syed Fazmi Sayid Mohammad said the sample size of respondents in the survey is not an accurate reflection of the sentiment of the general Malaysian population.

He also said that such research can be easily disputed.

“We have 32 million citizens and if only 2,000 to 3,000 were surveyed, it doesn’t paint the actual picture,” Syed Fazmi said, as reported by Free Malaysia Today.

“If we are talking about research, there are many studies that have been conducted. I can carry out one too,” he added.

This comes after Muhyiddin’s former private secretary Marzuki Mohamad cited Merdeka Centre’s surveys where Muhyiddin scored an average approval rating of 67 percent during his tenure as prime minister.

Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri (above) thus far has an average approval rating of 45 percent, which is a failing mark, Marzuki said.

Marzuki’s jab at Ismail Sabri was prompted by the prime minister claiming that Muhyiddin - the current chairperson of the National Recovery Council (NRC) - and Perikatan Nasional, along with Bersatu ministers, are equally responsible for the country’s economic failure.

Syed Fazmi today noted that the country’s economic situation had improved since Ismail Sabri succeeded Muhyiddin as prime minister in August 2021.

Aside from the country’s economic growth, he also claimed that the unemployment rates had dropped and that inflation was under control.

“If some people say we have failed, we can prove that the government is on the right track to recovery,” he said.

Responding to Syed Fazmi, Marzuki maintained that the survey findings were not wrong, but individual interpretations may differ.

He also rejected Syed Fahmi’s insistence that various data have denied claims of Ismail Sabri’s incompetence, including a 3.8 percent unemployment rate.

“This is a very dangerous statement.

“It is bordering on denial, which led to the defeat of BN in GE14,” he stressed.

On Sept 19, Muhyiddin said Malaysians are struggling with the depreciating ringgit, rising inflation, and post-pandemic economic woes and it is perhaps best for the 15th general election to be called if the economy cannot be better managed.

Hitting back at Muhyiddin, Ismail Sabri said if his government fails to manage the economy, the fault would be on Muhyiddin and ministers from the latter’s party too.

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