KUALA LUMPUR, April 23 — Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s popularity appears to have weathered the Covid-19 pandemic in Malaysia, with pollster Merdeka Center reporting today that his approval was now 67 per cent.

Muhyiddin’s approval has remained relatively steady since he took office last year, ranging between 74 per cent and 63 per cent throughout.

"The results indicate that the prime minister retains strong support from the Malay electorate at 83 per cent as compared to 30 per cent from the Chinese and 66 per cent from the Indian communities respectively. 

"This figure shows some improvement compared to the 63 per cent approval rating recorded at the end of January 2021,” Merdeka Center said in a statement announcing the survey results.

On the opposite end, only 15 per cent of Malay respondents expressed dissatisfaction towards Muhyiddin, along with 65 per cent of the Chinese respondents, and 31 per cent of Indian respondents sharing the negative sentiments. 

When narrowed down to only the Malay respondents, the survey results showed that regardless of the participants’ situation, an overwhelming amount of support poured out for Muhyiddin.

Malay respondents from the North gave Muhyiddin an approval rating of 83 per cent, the East with 90 per cent, the central zone with 74 per cent, and Southern region with 83 per cent approval ratings.

The same results of support from the Malay electorate were observed across the board, even from those working in the government of government-linked companies, the private sector, the self employed, those with and without internet access, and in different household income brackets.

The same survey also reported that 70 per cent of respondents indicated their satisfaction with the Muhyiddin administration’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.

Merdeka Center’s full report then detailed the positive responses by those within their test groups, which were categorised by gender, age groups, level of education, professions, household income brackets, and geographical location and ability to access the internet.

Their findings showed that a majority of the Malay and Indian respondents agreed with the management of the pandemic, with only 44 per cent of the Chinese respondents sharing these sentiments.

The majority of those in both rural (75 per cent) and urban areas (66 per cent) also expressed their confidence towards the administration’s handling of Covid-19; 72 per cent of those without an active internet connection and 69 per cent of those with active connectivity also agreeing in the government’s mitigative steps.

In terms of professions, 82 per cent of respondents working in the government and government-linked companies expressed their confidence in handling the pandemic, with similar responses from 68 per cent of those in the private sector, along with 65 of those who are self employed.

Merdeka Center said its survey involved 2,111 respondents from March 31 to April 12 among registered voters within Peninsula Malaysia.