KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is the prime minister of choice among Malaysians, 65 per cent of whom support him, according to an independent poll.
Emir Research, an independent think-tank, in its Quarterly Poll for the Third Quarter of 2020 (3Q20) - Part 2 found that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad came in second with 10 per cent of support as prime minister, followed by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim with eight per cent support.
"Similar patterns of support were recorded within various demographic groups. However, Muhyiddin had greater support among urban respondents (68 per cent). Muhyiddin was the preferred vote across the states except in Penang, where Dr Mahathir received the greatest support.
"Gender-wise, female respondents (73 per cent) showed stronger support for Muhyiddin. In terms of age, he (Muhyiddin) gained more support among the younger groups. He also enjoyed greater support among the Malays and Bumiputera of Sabah and Sarawak," Emir Research said in its media release today.
Unexpectedly, support for Muhyiddin among Malaysian Chinese and Indians was quite strong at 50 per cent and 49 per cent respectively, the think-thank said.
"Second-highest support within these two ethnic groups was given to Anwar, while the higher-educated are reliably associated with positive support for Muhyiddin," it said.
The fact that even Malaysian Chinese and Indian respondents indicated their strongest support for Muhyiddin as their prime minister of choice inspired more data exploration, the think-thank said.
"For Chinese and Indian groups, government satisfaction was not a driver for their choice of political leader. In contrast, Malay and Bumiputera respondents who supported Muhyiddin registered significantly higher levels of satisfaction with the government, in agreement with what the Voters' Worry-Satisfaction Valence model postulates – greater satisfaction with the incumbent government leads to its greater support by the rakyat," it said.
According to the think-thank, one possible explanation to these results could be the unanimous yearning for government stability which was one of the most pronounced themes in this qualitative research study.
The discussants across all Focus Group Discussions (FGD) reiterated on numerous occasions that government stability is crucial in these trying times.
"As one of the discussants summed it up: Many people said that this current government is the government that we need, not the government that you want, not the government that we have chosen," it said.
The state-wide survey was conducted in August involving 2,096 respondents comprising Malaysians from all states including Sabah, Sarawak and the Federal Territories.
In a disclaimer, Emir Research stated that since the FGD was conducted in July and the survey was in August, the poll does not take into account the latest happenings in the country, which include the surge in Covid-19 infections that began in late September.
Emir Research also stated that the poll does not take into account the intense politicking among politicians that has led to attempts at power grabs culminating in the Sabah state election on Sept 26; Anwar's bombshell that he has the majority to carry him to Putrajaya; and the call for a state of emergency to be declared which was denied by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. - Bernama