Najib scores a pass with 65pc

KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 – When he entered office in early April, he owned one of the lowest approval ratings of any incoming Malaysian Prime Minister.

One hundred days later and after a slew of measures to reform the economy, Malaysians appear to be warming up to Datuk Seri Najib Razak, a latest survey by an independent polling house shows.

The poll by the Merdeka Centre shows that his approval rating is 65 per cent, a spike from the tepid 46 per cent in mid-May and 42 per cent just before he became the country’s sixth leader.

Twenty-two per cent are dissatisfied with his performance while 13 per cent were undecided.

The survey findings will present further evidence to the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) that the days of it contending with a weak and unsure leader in Putrajaya are over.

Ibrahim Suffian, head of the polling institute, said: “Quite clearly, a growing number of Malaysians like some of the policy initiatives of the PM and his inclusive message.

“Some have begun to trust his leadership and some are giving him the benefit of doubt. This has translated into a higher approval rating.”

Some 1,060 selected registered voters were surveyed between June 19 and July 1.

They were asked a range of questions to gauge the PM’s performance, sentiment on the country and economy and measures to liberalise the economy.

The margin of error is about +/- 3 per cent. The survey was jointly commissioned by Merdeka Centre and a research house.

While he may have started on a low note, Najib can take heart that his approval rating has shot up. - Picture by Choo Choy May

Since becoming PM on April 3, Najib has tried to stake out his credentials as a reformer and architect of a new economic model for the country.

He liberalised the financial services sector, allowing foreigners to own larger chunks of investments banks and insurance companies.

Last week, he dropped the 30 per cent Bumiputera equity requirement for Malaysian firms seeking listing and trimmed the role of the powerful Foreign Investment Committee (FIC).

In addition, he also announced that from next year, a new category of merit-based scholarships will be awarded to Malaysian students.

These changes and policy initiatives are aimed at making Malaysia an attractive destination for foreign investment, nurture the services sector and help the country retain its best brains.

There is also a political imperative.

The moves proposed by the Najib administration are also aimed at regaining some of the support Umno/Barisan Nasional lost in Election 2008, particularly among the non-Malays.

The Merdeka Centre survey shows that Najib’s support is strongest among the Malays.

Some 74 per cent of Malays polled are satisfied with his performance as PM, while the level of support among Chinese and Indians is 48 per cent and 74 per cent respectively.

This finding will provide comfort to the PM at a time when his critics in the Malay community are accusing him of being too eager to remove affirmative action quotas at the expense of the Malays.

Both former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (Pas) president Datuk Abdul Hadi Awang have disagreed with the decision to liberalise the economy, arguing that Malays still need special treatment from the government.

Najib has said that the move to open up the economy will benefit Malaysia and Malays in the long run.

Economists have hailed the measures, noting that Malaysia had to become more competitive to attract foreign direct investment at a time when FDI around the world is declining.

The survey suggests that the majority of Malaysians accept the need for economic liberalisation.

Some 62 per cent respondents believe that liberalisation will help Malaysia in the long run, with 21 per cent not confident that it will help the country and no response from 17 per cent of those polled to this question.

In addition, 60 per cent of those polled believed that liberalisation will help Malays in the long run.

The survey also showed that despite facing one of the steepest contractions of the economy since the Asian Financial Crisis, Malaysians are fairly optimistic about the state of the economy and the ability of the Najib administration to steer the country down the right path.

Six out of then Malaysians are confident of the PM’s ability to manage the economy and lead Malaysia out of the recession.

Generally, the findings of the survey indicate strong levels of support among Malays and Indians for the new PM but the Chinese remain ambivalent.

Ibrahim said: “The general sense is that the Chinese community likes what they have been hearing but want to see the policies and initiatives to be executed.

“If the PM ensures that his agenda is implemented quickly and effectively, his goodwill will only grow.’’

But as the Abdullah years showed, if there is a yawning gap between press statements and execution, Malaysians can be an unforgiving lot.