The sharp 6 percentage point plunge in Prime Minister Najib Razak's approval rating is likely to set in motion two major decisions by the top UMNO leadership, already disgruntled with his underperformance since being appointed to replace Abdullah Badawi in April 2009.
The first is the decision to hold the 13th general election before the end of this year, most likely towards the end of October or in early November. The second is that, whatever the outcome of the GE, the curtains will fall on the Najib administration and he will be replaced by another leader, most likely his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin during party polls due to be held next year.
Sources told Malaysia Chronicle that Najib could not believe his popularity could drop so much within a three-month period, and he ordered parallel surveys to be conducted. But these too pointed to a big drop in public approval for him.
Not much for Najib and Rosmah to celebrate this Raya: Succession plan in Dec?
