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Su's performance rated higher than Chen's in poll

"I would say the premier would have a hard time doing his job because he is hamstrung by the poor performances of the president and the Cabinet."

Yu Chi-lik, director of the Shih Hsin University's Public Policy and Management Department

The results of a survey released yesterday suggested that Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) enjoyed a higher approval rating than President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

The survey, conducted by Shih Hsin University, was carried out last Sunday through Tuesday. A total of 1,099 respondents were randomly selected by their telephone numbers and asked to rate the performances of the president, the premier and the Cabinet.

Some 40.1 percent of the interviewees thought Su had performed well in his job as the premier. By comparison, 30.67 percent found the the Cabinet's performance satisfactory and only 18.95 percent approved of the president's performance.

Despite the premier's relatively high approval rating, the survey suggested that Su still does not have the support of the majority.

"I would say the premier would have a hard time doing his job because he is hamstrung by the poor performances of the president and the Cabinet," said Yu Chi-lik (余致力), director of the Shih Hsin University's Public Policy and Management Department.

Among the respondents, 339 lived in either Taipei City or Taipei County.

In terms of political affiliation, 290 respondents identified themselves as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supporters, while 145 were Democratic Progressive Party supporters.

The rest of the interviewees preferred not to declare their political affiliation.

On the question of Su's promise in March to improve public safety within six months, 33.19 percent of the interviewees thought it would be possible, while 60.11 percent said it was impossible.

In terms of public safety, 23.93 percent of respondents were satisfied with the current situation, while 73.22 percent thought it was a major problem.

On the performance of the nation's police officers, 36.29 percent said the police deserved praise, while 58.12 percent of respondents said law enforcement officers were doing a terrible job.

When asked to identify crime fighting priorities, 271 respondents said drugs and illegal weapons were most worrisome; 218 singled out fraud, while another 208 said that the safety of women and children should be safeguarded above all else.

The results of a separate poll conducted by the non-governmental Institute for National Policy Research (INPR) were also released yesterday.

The INPR survey indicated that 80.98 percent of respondents were dissatisfied with current crime levels, with just 15.89 percent describing themselves as satisfied.

The survey was conducted March 26-27 through telephone interviews and gathered 1,027 valid samples with a margin of error of 3 percent.

Some 80 percent of respondents said they acquired information about the crime situation from newspapers and television.

According to the survey results, "attempted fraud" was the most serious public order problem, with 79.94 percent of the respondents saying they had been targeted by scammers in the past month. Around 28.23 percent had been victims of theft, while 13.51 percent had been robbed.
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