“Abdullah: We do not fear Anwar – ‘Govt won’t stop him from contesting but due process of law cannot be ignored’” – this Star headline today is symptomatic of what is wrong with the Abdullah administration, that it is terribly obsessed and mortally worried about the Anwar factor in Malaysian politics.

Otherwise, why should Abdullah be dwelling on the subject of Anwar in the past two consecutive days, as if he has nothing more important to fret about – with the grave political, economic and nation-building crisis faced by 26 million Malaysians as well as his possible legacy to go down in history as the worst Prime Minister of Malaysia despite his glorious electoral mandate in 2004.

Instead of being haunted by the Anwar factor, Abdullah and his Cabinet should focus on the latest opinion poll of the independent Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research, conducted between July 4-16 from 1,030 Malaysians, which found among others the following:

1. For the first time, Abdullah’s popularity has plunged from a record high of 91 per cent in November 2004 to 61 per cent in January 2008 (just before the March 8 general election), down to 53 per cent in April 2008. With the unchecked free-fall in the past three months, Abdullah’s popularity rating has crashed below 50% in the latest survey to 42%.

2. The popular “satisfaction” quotient with the Barisan Nasional federal government has also fallen below 50%, with 54 per cent either “somewhat dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” with the Barisan Nasional government, while 44 per cent said they were either “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied”. Read the rest of this entry »