Dissatisfaction on Anwar surges as Madani Government approaches one-year milestone

SHAH ALAM – Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s popularity has waned, with a recent opinion poll revealing that Malaysians have grown increasingly dissatisfied with his stewardship of the country.

The Merdeka Centre’s survey on Anwar's approval rating as Prime Minister highlighted a ballooning increase in dissatisfaction, doubling from 19 per cent to 43 per cent since Dec 2022 to Oct 2023.

Conversely, satisfaction with Anwar has slumped from 68 per cent to 50 per cent of the same period, read the findings of the survey, ‘One Year Anniversary of the Unity Government: Survey Rating Outlook.’

Interestingly, there appears to be a deadlock in overall sentiment regarding the performance of the Anwar-led Madani Government, with 41 percent of survey respondents expressing equal levels of satisfaction and dissatisfaction.

Only seven per cent were reported to be angry – with the government – whereas the remaining 11 per cent were non-committal or refused to share their feelings.

It was also found that despite nearly a year in Putrajaya, the Madani Government has yet to resonate with the Malays - with those from this group compromising the largest share of those dissatisfied and angry with the government - at 60 percent

The Indians come second in terms of discontent, with 52 percent expressing dissatisfaction. In contrast, the Chinese differed from the Malays and Indians, with only a meagre 30 percent reporting unhappiness with the government.

In terms of household income, the survey revealed that the majority of individuals frustrated with the government earned less than RM2,000 a month, constituting 56 percent.

Such figure, essentially suggests that Anwar's pledges to assist the poor appeared to have fallen rather flat.

Following closely were those earning between RM2,000 and RM3,999 at 50 percent, RM4,000 to RM6,999 at 42 percent, and those earning more than RM7,000 at 41 percent.

According to Merdeka Center, 1,220 respondents aged 18 and above were interviewed via telephone (fixed and mobile lines).

The survey, conducted from October 4 to 24, 2023, included respondents from all states across Peninsular Malaysia, as well as Sabah and Sarawak.

Respondents were selected using a random stratified sampling method based on ethnicity, gender, age, and states.

All constituencies (14 states and across 222 parliamentary constituencies) were surveyed, and the selection of respondents was proportional to the population in each parliamentary constituency.