PM takes heed of survey, but says he has to engage with 32m rakyat

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he takes heed of a Merdeka Center survey which found his approval ratings falling amid economic concerns.

However, he said that he had to engage with a far bigger audience than in the survey.

"The survey was of 1,200 people, and we hear their views, but we must engage 32 million people," he said, referring to the country's entire population.

According to Merdeka Center, only half of the respondents of its poll last month gave Anwar the thumbs-up, compared to 43 percent who are dissatisfied with his performance.

This is the lowest approval rating for Anwar among the seven surveys the pollster has conducted since he took office in November last year.

The survey was conducted from Oct 4 to 24, polling 1,220 voters across the country via fixed line or mobile phone.

For context, Anwar announced his Budget 2024 proposal on Oct 13, while the survey was underway.

READ MORE: PMX’s year in review by Kini News Lab

The respondents were selected via random stratified sampling to ensure a representative sample in each parliamentary constituency, meaning that it was reflective of the population.

The survey’s margin of error is estimated to be ±2.81 percent.

Besides approval for Anwar, 48 percent of the survey’s respondents disapproved of the federal government’s performance, compared to 41 percent who were satisfied.

Meanwhile, 60 percent of respondents said they believe Malaysia is going in the wrong direction, compared to 31 percent who think Malaysia is going the right way.

Among those who believe the country is going in the wrong direction, more than half (56 percent) cited economic reasons for their belief.

These include generally unfavourable economic conditions (28.3 percent), high cost of living (22.4 percent), the weakening of the ringgit (1.8 percent) and the minimum wage (1.5 percent).

Anwar marked his first year in office today.

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