PM’S APPROVAL RATING DECLINES SLIGHTLY AFTER BERSIH DEMONSTRATIONS - MERDEKA CENTRE

News Release

June 1, 2012

PM’s approval rating declines slightly after BERSIH demonstrations

BANGI – A recently concluded survey among voters in Peninsular Malaysia found that the prime minister’s approval rating had declined slightly to 65% in May 2012 from 69% in February 2012. This figure comes three weeks after the tumultuous events of the BERSIH 3.0 demonstration and a series of other counter-demonstrations/events by supporters of the establishment.

The survey also found that satisfaction with the prime minister remained high among respondents above 50 years old, at around 70% but satisfaction among respondents below 30 years old was markedly lower at 61%.

As in the February survey, satisfaction among lower income respondents (i.e. from households with less than RM1500 monthly incomes) was very high. Satisfaction from respondents from the middle income group (i.e. households with monthly incomes between RM3000 to RM5000) showed a large decline compared to February 2012.

Despite the slight decline in the PM’s satisfaction figure, the survey found that support for the prime minister increased among the following groups:

However, support among other key segments of voters showed some marked decline as follows:

Despite the high satisfaction for the prime minister, the same survey found that voters’ views of the government remained lukewarm, with only 48% of respondents report that “they were happy with the government”. This figure is unchanged compared to February 2012. Among Malay voters, responses of those saying “happy” with the government rose only 1% to 65% compared to February 2012.

In Merdeka Center’s view, while the events surrounding BERSIH 3.0 appears to have had the effect of improving Malay voter satisfaction for the prime minister, the impact is less evident for the government (which also serves as a proxy in the survey for the ruling coalition). The small gain in Malay voter satisfaction towards the PM appears to have been outweighed by the large negative swing among Chinese voters. The 19% decline in satisfaction among Chinese voters has wiped out the political capital that the prime minister had rebuilt among the Chinese electorate in the wake of last year’s BERSIH 2.0 demonstrations.

The survey was carried out by the Merdeka Center for Opinion Research between 10th and 18th May 2012 to gauge voters’ perceptions of current developments in the country. 1,019 registered voters comprising 59% Malay, 32%Chinese and 9% Indian respondents were interviewed by telephone in the poll. Respondents were selected on the basis of random stratified sampling along ethnicity, gender and state of residence. The survey was funded internally by Merdeka Center for Opinion Research for release to the public.

About Merdeka Center for Opinion Research

Merdeka Center for Opinion Research was formally established in 2001 as an independent organization focused on public opinion research and socio-economic analysis. Merdeka’s mission is to act as a bridge between ordinary Malaysians and other stakeholders with the leading members of the nation – by collecting public opinion studies and expressing them through survey results, analysis and position papers. For details, visit: www.merdeka.org

Contact:

Ibrahim Suffian

Director - Programs

Mobile: 6012 379 1940

Email: ben@merdeka.org

Tan Seng Keat

Research Manager

Mobile: 6012 395 0316

Email: sengkeat@merdeka.org

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