MALAYSIANS have many grouses after one year of Pakatan Harapan rule but most would still give the new government another term, an online survey conducted by The Malaysian Insight has found.

More than half of the survey’s 1,013 respondents were not satisfied with the administration on a number of issues ranging from overall performance to cost of living and handling of race and religious issues.

Yet, 60.7% (615 respondents) said they were still willing to give PH another term. Only 24.5% and 14.8% said “no” and “do not know”.

The survey was conducted in conjunction with PH’s first anniversary in federal power after winning the 14th general election on May 9 last year.

Few respondents also rated the overall performance of the new government highly. On a scale of one (poor) to 10 (excellent), only 32 (3.2%) and 35 (3.2%) out of 1,000 respondents gave PH high scores of nine and 10.

A high number (111 or 11.1%) also gave the PH government a rating of one.

Slightly more than half the respondents – 52.3% (530) – also thought PH was spending more time going after the old administration for its wrongs than focusing on running the government effectively, while 39.5% disagreed and 8.2% said they do not know.

On whether former prime minister Najib Razak’s corruption trial should be moving along quicker, 81.2% (823 people) agreed. Only 10.3% disagreed and 8.5% said they did not know.

Dr Mahathir over Anwar

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad fared a little better than his administration, with more respondents saying they were satisfied with him in charge.

Although 105 respondents gave him a one rating (poor), more rated him highly, with 140 (13.8%) giving ratings of seven; 163 (16.1%), eight; 113 (11.2%), nine; and 117 (11.6%) 10.

As to Dr Mahathir’s replacement, respondents were not positive about the succession plan that will see PKR president Anwar Ibrahim take over as prime minister by May 2020, the two-year timeframe for the handover mentioned previously.

Only 36.4% (369 people) replied “yes” to Anwar taking over from Dr Mahathir by that date. Another 48.9% (495 people) disagreed with Anwar taking over, while 14.7% said they did not know.

Slowing economy

When it came to the economy, most respondents gave the PH government poor ratings.

As many as 52.6% (533) did not think the economy had improved, compared with 35.7% who did and 11.6% who did not know.

Asked specifically if they thought PH was doing a good job fixing the economy and managing the rising cost of living, more respondents (48.5% or 491) answered no than yes.

Asked to rate their satisfaction level with the current economy, only 18 gave a high rating of nine, and 26 gave a rating of 10, compared with 137 (13.6%) who gave a score of one.

Most respondents were someone in the middle, with 178 (17.6%) and 152 (15%) giving scores of five and six, respectively.

On disposable income, a majority of the respondents – 54.9% (556) – said they did not have more to spend every month on necessities.

As for extras on leisure and wants, 63.6% (644) said they do not have more money for such things.

On whether inflation has improved under PH’s administration, 58.6% (594) said no, while 26.5% answered yes, and 14.9% did not know.

A majority – 53.4% (541) – also said it was still difficult to find employment, compared with only 16.5% who said it was easier. The remaining 30.1% said they did not know.

Other issues

Respondents were also asked on PH’s handling of race and religious relations, with a majority – 67.4% (683) – answering negatively. 

Only 25.6% thought PH was doing well in this area, while 7% did not know.

Likewise, PH received mostly negative responses on whether they were doing enough to reinstate Sabah and Sarawak’s rights as per the Malaysia Agreement 1963, with 41% saying no against 38.1% who said yes.

Similarly, PH is not doing enough to protect Orang Asli and raise their welfare (46.7%) compared with 27.4% who said they were.

Respondents were also asked on whether they thought PH had improved their sense of safety and more 43.8% (444 people) said no, compared with 41.3% who said yes.

However, not everything is bad and PH received praise for greater transparency (65.3%); freedom of speech and media (74.8%); management of government resources (53.1%); public transportation (52.6%) and protecting the environment (49.8%).

PH’s victory in the May 9 elections last year was historic for Malaysia, which has never been governed by any party apart from Barisan Nasional.

But the euphoria that came with former opposition coalition’s victory ended soon when the administration failed to deliver some of its election pledges, blaming it on the RM1 trillion debt left by BN.

PH also had to make U-turns on several issues due to pressures from Malay and Muslim groups, including the Umno-PAS opposition, hurting racial ties. – May 9, 2019.