PRIME Minister Anwar Ibrahim scored a 42% approval rating in the six states that will be holding its elections this Saturday, Ilham Centre said.

The think tank said while Anwar scored high popularity ratings in the three states held by Pakatan Harapan (PH), he, however, fared less well in the other three Perikatan Nasional (PN) states.

In Penang, Pakatan chairman’s popularity was at an encouraging 70%, and 62% in both Selangor and Negri Sembilan.

However, the numbers were poor in Kelantan (10%), Terengganu (21%) and Kedah (27%), the states held by PN.

“This means the voters in these three states are still sceptical of the prime minister’s performance,” Ilham Centre said in a statement today.

“Overall, based on the findings from the six states, the prime minister’s satisfactory level is at 42%.”

Among other findings, 41% of those surveyed said they thought the nation was on the right track under the leadership of Anwar as prime minister.

Forty per cent also believed Anwar could bring back the people’s support and the Malay community’s trust in the government, while 37% said they would vote PH/Barisan Nasional because of Anwar’s leadership.

The survey was conducted from July 11 to 27, involving 2,416 respondents from the six states.

Ilhan Centre emphasised the findings were not reflective of the sentiments nationwide and was only limited to the six states facing elections.

Race-wise, at only 24% the survey showed the Malay community was the least satisfied with the prime minister.

The highest was among the Chinese community (89%) and Indians (81%). Others gave a 75% approval rating of Anwar.

“The non-Malays very obviously support the prime minister’s initiatives but it was not the same among the Malays,” Ilham Centre said. – August 10, 2023.