Malaysia GE2022: Govt approval rating slides as Nov 19 approaches
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Approval for the Barisan Nasional-led federal government tumbled to 31 per cent in an October survey.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
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KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian federal government’s popularity has sunk as the country’s 15th General Election approaches.
Approval for the Barisan Nasional-led federal government tumbled to 31 per cent in an October survey, which was done a week after the ruling party Umno pushed through for elections to be held during a perilous monsoon flooding season.
This was down from 38 per cent in September.
Meanwhile, 60 per cent of respondents in October said they were angry or dissatisfied with the government, up from 51 per cent the month before.
The latest approval rating is even lower than the BN government’s 39 per cent in April 2018, days before the Umno-led alliance was ousted for the first time in the country’s history.
BN received the highest disapproval from non-Malays, at 83 per cent; dissatisfaction towards the coalition was 48 per cent among Malays.
The survey was conducted from Oct 19 to 28 among 1,209 adult Malaysian voters by independent pollster Merdeka Center for Opinion Research.
In terms of choosing a party to represent them, 26 per cent of the respondents said they would vote for the opposition Anwar Ibrahim-led Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition. BN’s popularity trailed among voters at 24 per cent, while Perikatan Nasional (PN) got the lowest share at 13 per cent.
However, among the critical Malay vote bank, PH’s popularity was the lowest at 13 per cent, while BN scored the highest at 32 per cent, with 20 per cent saying they would vote for PN.
Malays form the majority in most constituencies in Peninsular Malaysia.
The three coalitions with large bases of support are heading into multi-cornered fights in almost all the constituencies at the Nov 19 polls.
An expanded youthful electorate due to Malaysia’s lowering of the voting age to 18,
“With the lower-than-expected level of Malay voter support for BN, it is possible to imagine that no single coalition will attain a large enough plurality to form a government with just one other party or coalition,” Merdeka Center said.
“Instead, there is a rising possibility that at least three or more parties or coalitions are needed to cooperate to form a government with a simple majority.”
The survey showed that the most important trait in a candidate among voters is “good ideas for the country”. The second-most important was for candidates to be clean and trustworthy, followed by the ability to bring development to the area.
However, most young voters aged 18 to 20 – who comprise 1.4 million new voters this election – are evaluating candidates based on whether they are clean and trustworthy, and placing less weight on whether the candidates are able to help in development of the country.
Satisfaction with caretaker Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob dipped to 42 per cent in October, from 46 per cent in September and 52 per cent when he first took power more than a year ago.
PN’s chief Muhyiddin Yassin was the most popular among top party leaders, with a 46 per cent approval rating, while PH’s Datuk Seri Anwar was backed by 34 per cent of respondents.
Disapproval for Umno chief Zahid climbed to 72 per cent in October, from 67 per cent in September. Critics say he pushed Mr Ismail to hold the elections in 2022 to get ahead of a possible guilty verdict expected in early 2023 in his ongoing graft trial.
His overall approval was 12 per cent, faring just slightly better with Malays at 13 per cent.
