Malaysian PM Anwar's Approval Rating Drops Amid Growing Economic Concerns

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's personal approval rating dropped to 50% in the latest Merdeka Centre opinion poll from 68% in December last year, while respondents expressed growing dissatisfaction with the current government, with 48% saying that they were unhappy with the performance of the administration.

• Merdeka Centre commented that in their view, "the movements in voter sentiments are largely driven by their concerns over the economy and how it affects their livelihoods," with only 31% of voters believing that the country is heading in the right direction versus 60% thinking that it is heading in the wrong direction. Economic issues were the main reason for the choice of the "wrong direction" (56%), followed by political instability (13%) and poor administration (9%).
• Anwar's Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) will convene in Putrajaya this weekend for its annual congress and will take stock of the record of the performance of the unity government formed a year ago with PKR's former foes from the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).