DR Mahathir Mohamad’s approval rating has jumped seven percentage points despite the ongoing saga in PKR, the biggest party in the ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, said the Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research.

The pollster’s monthly survey showed that the prime minister’s popularity has risen to 62% in June 2019 compared to 55% in May. This comes off a low point of 46% in March 2019.

The survey of 961 respondents showed an overall improvement of sentiment among Malays and Chinese with a mild dip among Indian respondents.

Malay and Chinese sentiments towards the 94-year-old prime minister rose 16 points to 50% and 77% respectively while Indian sentiments dropped to 74% from 80% in March 2019.

According to Merdeka Centre, Dr Mahathir’s ratings rebounded since March at the back of the open friction with the Johor palace and his open admission of PH’s delivery shortfalls.

Dr Mahathir’s popularity was highest in May 2018 at 83%, right after he led PH to its first general election victory over Barisan Nasional.

Meanwhile, PH’s popularity appears to have stabilised at 41%, although there was some noticeable decline among non-Malay supporters.

Public perception of PH had been falling steadily from 75% (May 2018) to 41% (May 2019).

Malay sentiments for the coalition jumped four points to 32% in June 2019 while Chinese (51%) and Indian (59%) support fell six and five points respectively.

The Merdeka Centre perception survey was conducted with 961 respondents above the age of 21 from all states across Peninsular Malaysia from June 28-July 1. The survey margin of error is estimated at 3.16%. – July 20, 2019.