PUTRAJAYA, April 30 — Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Pakatan Harapan (PH) still has years to address public dissatisfaction as indicated in a recent poll on his and the pact’s approval ratings.

He also the currently perceived dissatisfaction was to be expected following the euphoria of last year’s general election result. 

"We are aware of that, but elections are different. In an election they will make a proper assessment as to who is fit to govern,” Dr Mahathir said after a meeting with government officers at Seri Puspanita, organised by the Public Service Department.

With the 15th general election is still a ways off, he said the PH administration will do “lots of things” to win back popular opinion between now and then.

“At this moment, we are constrained by all the wrongdoings of the previous government,” Dr Mahathir said, adding he is also unconcerned about the drop in his own popularity.

The prime minister then took a swipe at Barisan Nasional, saying that they were simply criticising for the sake of criticism.

“When you are in the Opposition, all you do is criticise. You do nothing, so there is nothing to criticise about them,” he said.

Independent pollster Merdeka Center released the findings of its latest opinion poll last week that showed Dr Mahathir and PH’s approval ratings to be 46 per cent and 39 per cent, respectively.

The two had been 71 per cent and 67 per cent, also respectively, in the previous poll from August last year.

 

A Flourish data visualisation