Is Anwar’s Approval Rating on the Rise?

 Key Points:

· Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s approval rating has risen to 54 percent in a Merdeka Center survey. This is up from 50 percent in 2023, with voters citing efforts to improve Malaysia’s image, attract investment, and streamline the civil service.

 

· Economic concerns dominate sentiments, with 53 percent feeling Malaysia is on the wrong track, driven by the cost of living and subsidy cut anxieties.

 

· The survey highlights the economy as voters’ top issue, though concerns have eased slightly since 2023.

 

 

About 39 percent of respondents gave Anwar the thumbs down, while eight percent were neutral about his performance.

 

In comparison, his approval rating was 68 percent in the honeymoon period after he was sworn into office in 2022. But fell to 43 percent in June 2024, before rising to the current level.

 

During the corresponding period in November last year, a similar Merdeka Center survey gave Anwar an approval rating of 50 percent.

 

Despite the improved approval rating, however, 53 percent of respondents feel Malaysia is going in the wrong direction, compared to 39 percent who feel optimistic about the country’s future. Whether the sentiment is positive or negative, respondents overwhelmingly cited economic issues as the reason.

 

 

The reasons for optimism include favourable economic conditions (11.7 percent), improving economy (10.1 percent), good national or state administration (8.7 percent), and political stability (5.8 percent).

 

Meanwhile, those who felt the country was going in the wrong direction cited unfavourable economic conditions (26.5 percent), high cost of living (16.6 percent), poor administration (6.9 percent), and political instability (6.7 percent).

 

 

 “The tight spread between positives and negatives is largely driven by persistent concerns about cost of living pressures and some anxiety over subsidy cuts slated to take place in the future.

“As in the past, voter sentiments remain focused on the economy, as largely driven by their concerns over the economy, where 65 percent state as the ‘number one problem facing people in the country today’, according to Merdeka Center.

 

The survey was conducted via telephone across Malaysia during the survey period, with respondents aged 18 and above selected via random stratified sampling along ethnic, gender, age, and state lines. The margin of error is estimated at ±2.82 percent.

 

 The one key area PMX has failed thus far is cost of living. This is definitely on the rise in 2025 with subsidy cuts, wage increases, and electricity tariffs projected to be hiked. What can he do? Several things… defer, substitute, dissuade! What do I mean? I will write on it once I am the special economic adviser!

 

Reference:

Anwar’s approval rating rises slightly to 54pst – survey, Malaysiakini, 23 December 2024