Two years of Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister
X Survey Results
Anwar Ibrahim has now held the position as prime minister for two years. Many people had been patiently waiting for Anwar to become prime minister under the belief he would change Malaysia for the better. The best way to comment about Anwar Ibrahim is to find out what people are thinking.
This is my own survey, so at least I can talk from something a little quantitative. X has finally unlocked my restriction, which began during the Covid era, so I can now use it as a tool. This poll has about 15% the participants size, compared to any Ideas-Yusof Ishak Institute poll. The only thing with my poll is that I cannot control the sample. For a person without any funding to conduct any surveys, it the best I can do.
I have asked each question directly without any context, so as not to try to influence any particular response.
How would you rate PMX’s Competence in the role as prime minister?
This question received 185 responses from 971 views. I only allowed A-D responses, so as not to dramatize any findings. There is a group out there who believe Anwar Ibrahim is doing an “A” job at 15.1% of the respondents. Just over 10% see Anwar doing a good (B) to fair job (C). However, 74.6% of the 185 respondents rated Anwar’s competence as “D”.
Cost of Living
This cost of living is a major issue facing many Malaysians. This question asks whether people see the economy ‘better than before’, ‘the same’, or ‘worse than before’. This question received 156 responses from 745 views. Only 4.5% of the respondents saw the economy as the same, where 6.4% see the economy as better than before. However, 89.1% of the respondents see the economy as worse than before.
Corruption
Corruption is a major issue that Anwar said his government would pay a lot of attention towards. This question received 213 responses from 972 views. 19.2% of the respondents saw corruption was the same as before, where 14.6% believe corruption is less than before. However, 66.2% of the respondents believe corruption is worse than before.
Prime ministerial ego
Ego can often be associated with arrogance and display of personal power. Ego can also display the feelings respondents have towards a particular candidate. This question had 1,445 views with 318 responses. Interestingly, only 0.3% of believed Ismail Sabri had the most ego. (This question is really asking for a relative comparison). 10.4% saw Muhyiddin Yassin being the most egoistic in the group. 30.5% believed Mahathir Mohamed had the most ego, while 58.8% believed Anwar Ibrahim had the most ego.
Should PKR offer a new candidate as leader (i.e., an alternative prime minister)?
With talk is internal discontent over the performance of Anwar as prime minister within his own party PKR, it would be interesting to see how many in the general community see the need for PKR to present a new candidate as prime minister. Out of 146 responses, 20.9% believed it’s not necessary for PKR to find a new candidate, while 79.1% believed PKR should find a new candidate as leader.
Sponsoring travel for the prime minister
The travel sponsorship controversy rose this week and it was interesting to gauge what community feeling about this issue is. One saw outrage in the media. Commercial sponsorship for the travel of a national leader is a novel concept. 26.4% of the 148 respondents saw this innovation as a positive thing, while 73.6% of respondents disagreed with the sponsorship of a leader’s travel.
Credibility of the DAP
Over the last two years, the largest coalition party of the unity government has been the DAP. It was interesting to see how the last two years has influenced the perception of the credibility of the DAP. The question received 944 views and 194 responses. 10.3% of respondents think the DAP has lost no credibility, while 12.9% believe the DAP has lost some credibility. Alarmingly for the DAP, 76.8% of respondents believe the DAP has lost trust from the electors.
Who would you vote for in the next general election
To the question “who would you vote for in the next general election?’, 206 people responded. The relative response between Pakatan Harapan and Perikatan Nasional is very striking. The other interesting aspect is that 27.2% of respondents said they would vote for others.
Rotational basis for prime minister
More than a decade ago, the chief minister’s position in Sabah was on a rotational basis, until UMNO cancelled the agreement. The question received 508 views and 106 responses. Clearly, people are not in favour of such a system.
Conclusions
The survey samples put great limitations upon the survey responses above. However, if larger surveys come to the same conclusions, there are some important political ramifications. First, Anwar Ibrahim’s position as prime minister is doesn’t have the public support he would need to have a second term as prime minister. There are issues Anwar must work on, such as his own personal persona. The issues of the economy and corruption are two other weaknesses. Second, Anwar’s own political party PKR, might not be providing him with solid support. Third, the DAP must have a solid look into itself to work upon regaining trust again from its support base. Finally, Perikatan Nasional cannot be written off as a serious contender for GE16.
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