KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 2 ― Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin appears to have a high rating among Malaysians with 69 per cent recently surveyed by independent pollster Merdeka Center saying they were happy with his performance.

Muhyiddin has been PM for about six months since replacing Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in March. The survey was completed on August 10.

According to Merdeka Center’s findings, nine out of 10 Malays and Bumiputera from Sabah and Sarawak gave Muhyiddin the thumbs up. He was approved by 65 per cent of ethnic Indians while only 33 per cent of ethnic Chinese were satisfied with him.

"The prime minister’s approval rating continues to be in a comfortable, positive territory considering that he has held the position since March 2020,” Merdeka Center programme director Ibrahim Suffian said in a statement today.

Merdeka Center also found 58 per cent of Malaysians were happy with the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government led by Muhyiddin while 28 per cent expressed dissatisfaction or anger.

"Interestingly, the gap of income is one of the indicators to differentiate who agrees or disagrees with the performance of the government.

"Around three-quarters of the respondents whose household income is less than RM2,000 per month expressed positive views towards the federal government but only 40 per cent were positive among those whose household income were higher than RM7,000 per month,” Ibrahim said.

He noted that part of Muhhyiddin’s high approval rating stems from the 93 per cent overall satisfaction rate on how the PN government is handling the Covid-19 pandemic.

The survey showed that 68 per cent Malaysians agreed that the government has been helpful to those in need, while 61 per cent felt the government had been managing the economy well.

"In our view, this increase of Malay voter support takes place on the back of a positive management of the Covid-19 pandemic, rapid response in dispensing financial aid to affected low income households and businesses, as well as the latent satisfaction at seeing Malay political parties which had been in decades-long competition with one another finally coming together in a pact,” added Ibrahim.

The survey polled 3,415 voters between July 15 July and August 10, asking them about issues like the country’s economy, government and political leadership and other current issues.

Merdeka Center said the respondents comprised 52 per cent Malay, 29 per cent ethnic Chinese, 7 per cent ethnic Indian and 6 per cent other Muslim Bumiputera from Sabah and Sarawak.