Najib’s approval rating slides

A survey has shown that dissatisfaction over Najib's performance has increased in the last three months.

PETALING JAYA: Political instability, price hikes, unfavourable economic conditions and the Bersih 2.0 rally have caused a significant dent in Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s approval rating.

A recent survey conducted by the Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research saw the 1,027 respondents pushing Najib’s rating down 6% from 65% in May 2011 to 59% in August.

When broken down into ethinic groups, 69% of Malays, 38% of Chinese and 69% of Indians approved of his administration.

Merdeka Centre concluded that the latest rating could be linked to pocket book issues as well as public perception of the government’s handling of the July 9 Bersih rally and its aftermath.

Thirty-nine percent of respondents said they were satisfied with the government’s handling of the Bersih 2.0 issues compared to 48% who felt that the matter could have been dealt with better.

Meanwhile, 49% said they understood Bersih 2.0′s eight demands for electoral reforms with 88% backing the coalition’s call for a review and “clean up” of the electoral roll.

However, none of the factors that contributed to the drop in Najib’s approval rating appeared to impact the optimism that the country was headed in the right direction.

Fifty-one percent of respondents gave the nation’s direction the thumbs up with the most optimistic being the Malays at 64%, down 1% in May 2011.

Confidence among the Indian electorate however sank from 56% to 39% while Chinese confidence crawled upwards from 30% to 31% during the same period.

The survey also noted that the public’s top concerns remained the economy at 38% which was 14% higher than eight months ago, followed by social problems at 10%.

Social problems ranked second at 10% with politics, race and leadership issues comprising further 9%.