Responding to poll results that showed the nation’s confidence in the government had dropped to its lowest level since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office, several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday expressed optimism that public confidence would rebound.
A poll by the Chinese-language United Daily News and the Global Views monthly showed the nation’s political confidence index dropped to 46.4 points this month.
The figure, down 3.5 points from the previous month, marks the lowest level since Ma took office in May.
The survey also showed that the economic confidence index for this month had dropped 3.3 points from last month to 28.6 points.
The public mood index, which combines the political and economic confidence indexes, slipped to 37.5 points this month.
According to the survey, a score above 50 points indicates optimism, while less than 50 points indicates pessimism.
KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said the low level of confidence in the government showed that the public’s expectations of an improved economy under Ma’s administration have not been met.
Another contributing factor is the Cabinet’s slow response to recent crises such as the tainted milk scandal and public infrastructure damage caused by Typhoon Sinlaku earlier this month, he said.
Lai said the government’s policy direction was laudable, but that inter-ministry coordination and communication with the public needed to be improved.
KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said the low level of public confidence in the government had reached “the bottom of the valley.”
Wu said he believed confidence levels would soon rise following the Ma administration’s implementation of various “policies benefiting the people and the county.”
He said the Ma administration’s performance in handling Typhoon Jangmi had markedly improved over its response to recent typhoons.
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