Survey: BN's Approval Rating Lower Than Pre-2018 Polls
According to the latest Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research surveys, approval ratings for the Barisan Nasional-led federal government stood at 38% prior to Parliament’s dissolution last month, lower than when the coalition headed into the 14th general election in 2018.
The independent pollster found that the percentage of Malaysians who approved of the Umno-led BN in September was lower than the 39% recorded in April 2018, just days before the coalition was ousted in GE14 after nearly six decades in power.
This does not spell good for the BN administration as it is going into the elections on November 19 and it will be faced with two coalitions, one made up of the Pakatan Harapan that won the 2018 elections, and the Perikatan Nasional, a splinter group of MPs allied with the Islamists PAS.
More on the Survey
According to the report, current government satisfaction is much lower than the 50% seen in September 2021, weeks after Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob first became prime minister, after both the Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalitions failed to secure the required parliamentary majority to form the government.
It also says that in September, only 51% of respondents were dissatisfied with the federal government, compared to 47% just before Datuk Seri Najib Razak was deposed as prime minister in GE14 in May 2018.
It also says that just 51 per cent of respondents said they were dissatisfied with the federal government in September, compared with 47 per cent just before Datuk Seri Najib Razak was deposed as prime minister in GE14 in May 2018.
As for the outgoing Prime Minister Ismail Sabri, only 46 per cent were satisfied with him compared to 52 per cent when he first came into power a year ago.
But Sabri is more popular than Umno President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who got only 13 per cent approval while a whopping 67 per cent were dissatisfied with Zahid.
Is Umno in for a massive shock in these elections? Umno wanted the elections to be held now, despite warnings of flood and has been campaigning that it has victory in sight.