A tracking poll conducted by TVBS between Feb. 26 and Feb. 27 showed President Chen Shui-bian's (
Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
If such a decline in popular support continues, the ruling DPP may expect a voter revolt at the end of the year when the country is due to elect new legislators, city mayors and county commissioners, individuals on the street and lawmakers say.
Chang Chun-lai (
Living in a DPP stronghold, Chang and his family of six all voted for the DPP in the 2000 presidential campaign.
"There is no way I will repeat the same mistake again," even though the elections are still nine months away, he said. The company Chang works for is on the verge of closure, thanks to the gloomy economy.
Chen Chu-tsu (
"Only a fool would stumble on the same stone twice," she said sarcastically. Sharing the same surname as the president, Chen Chu-tsu and her family rallied en mass to the DPP camp last March.
"They are inexperienced, visionless and irresponsible," the grandmother said of the government.
She went on to explain that she has lost a six-figure sum in the stock market over the past few months.
DPP lawmaker Shen Fu-hsiung (
According to the latest official statistics, at least 329,000 people are out of work, the highest in 15 years, with 774,000 people affected by the high unemployment rate.
This figure has raised widespread alarm, as the country has yet to install any kind of social security program.
More and more people, faced with mounting debts, are taking their lives as a way out. Meanwhile, reports of mass lay offs continue to roll-in.
Against this backdrop, the government has been tied up with partisan feuding for the bulk of its rule thus far.
"I remember asking the premier to name his achievements, and all he could say was the continuation of construction of the nuclear plant," KMT Legislator Chu Li-luan (
"But the spat could have been avoided, had the Cabinet not scrapped the plant in the first place."
The policy turnaround is costing taxpayers NT$6.5 million a day, not including potential compensation payments, the state-run Taiwan Power Company (
New Party lawmaker Lai Shyh-bao (
"Chang can't do anything without taking cues from the Presidential Office," Lai said.
As such, the premier, while repeatedly hinting at a partial Cabinet reshuffle, is hesitant to take any decisive steps, he said.
"The absence of presidential instruction underlies his vacillation."
Shen expressed reservations about Lai's opinion but agreed that the premier's posturing -- intentional or not -- dealt a further blow to Cabinet morale.
On Sunday, the president himself voiced grave discontent over the Cabinet's inefficiency. Nine months into office, Chen said that inexperience can no longer be used to explain away administrative inaction, nor can the opposition resistance suffice as an excuse.
With a two-thirds majority in the legislature, the opposition alliance can, and often does, thwart the policy goals of the DPP government.
Unsympathetic, People First Party spokesman Sun Ta-chien (
"Not that we like to criticize the government, but it hasn't done anything worth praising," Sun said.
Sun added that he believes that Chen is running the country by trial and error.
This and other criticisms, fair or not, apparently are striking a cord with more and more people, as can be seen from Chen's sliding approval ratings.
In the hope of reversing the tide, Shen, the DPP strategist, predicated that the Cabinet will undergo a minor facelift by or before May 20, the first anniversary of Chen's presidency.
"The government can use some new blood," he said.
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