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Tsai's approval rating sinks to new low: poll

ROC Central News Agency

2016/11/28 14:30:53

Taipei, Nov. 28 (CNA) Public satisfaction with President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) handling of state affairs has dropped to its lowest since she took office in May, the latest survey by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation showed Monday.

According to the poll, Tsai's approval rating has fallen from 69.9 percent in May to 41.4 percent in November, while her disapproval rating has spiked from 8.8 percent to 42.6 percent.

It is the first time that a poll by the Taiwanese Public Foundation has shown a higher rate of disapproval than approval for Tsai's handling of the state affairs, said You Ying-lung (游盈隆), chairman of the foundation, a non-governmental and non-profit organization that specializes in opinion polls and in-depth studies of public opinion.

The foundation's public opinion polls on Tsai, which have been conducted every month since she assumed the office on May 20, show a steady decline in her approval ratings, from 69.9 percent in May to 67 percent in June, 55.9 percent in July, 52.3 percent in August, 44.7 percent in September, 44 percent in October and 41.4 percent in November.

The respondents are usually asked whether they agree with Tsai's handling state affairs, including her policies and top personnel appointments.

According to You, Tsai's approval rating have been dropping because the majority of people in Taiwan do not think Premier Lin Chuan (林全) and his Cabinet are capable of resolving the nation's problems.

He cited the poll as showing that only 30.7 percent have confidence in Lin and the Cabinet's performance, while 52 percent are skeptical.

On the issue of Tsai's cross-Taiwan Strait policy, 41.2 percent of the respondents in the most recent poll said they were satisfied, while 47.8 percent said they were not.

According to You, the cross-strait issue and the government's handling of it are clearly major concerns for the public.

On the controversial proposal to ease the ban on food imports from radiation-affected areas of Japan, 76 percent of the public is opposed to it, while 19.2 percent support it, the poll showed.

The administration's proposed amendment bill to reduce the annual number of national holidays from 19 to 12 also does not have majority public support, according to the poll, which showed 41 percent for it and 48 percent against.

The poll was conducted by Focus Survey Research by phone Nov. 21-22 on randomly-selected adults throughout Taiwan over the age of 20. It obtained 1,098 valid samples and had a margin of error of 2.96 percentage points.

(By Lu Hsin-hui and Elizabeth Hsu)
ENDITEM/pc