The arrogance of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration has shattered public confidence in the government, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, citing a recent poll indicating that US President Barack Obama is more popular in Taiwan than Ma is.
A recent survey by the Chinese-language Commonwealth Magazine found that public confidence in Ma had dropped 3.2 percentage points to 38.6 percent, trailing behind Obama at 46.1 percent.
With Ma’s approval rating below 40 percent and many Taiwanese feeling the impact of the global economic slump that has pushed unemployment to more than 6 percent, the DPP is hoping next month’s regional elections will be a symbolic vote of no confidence in the Ma administration.
The DPP controls only three of the 17 counties and cities up for grabs in next month’s polls and hopes to capitalize on the public’s grievances to add to its total.
“The public’s strong distrust in the government is a disaster,” DPP Spokeswoman Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said.
Hsiao criticized the government for disregarding the legislature when carrying out its policies.
Hsiao said the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) had consistently ignored the advice and suggestions of the DPP, and urged the government to start heeding the opinions of others before public confidence in the administration erodes even further.
Meanwhile, Hsiao accused the KMT of using “dirty tricks” to sabotage the DPP candidate for Chiayi County commissioner, Chang Hua-kuan (張花冠), by nudging prosecutors to launch a probe into Chang’s campaign headquarters.
At a fundraising concert on Friday night, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said the party had information indicating that prosecutors were planning a large-scale investigation into Chang’s office.
Tsai called on the KMT to refrain from such tactics in order to prevent conflict.
“This is absolutely unfair to the DPP candidates. In the last few years, in every major election, the DPP candidates have been investigated by the judiciary. But the fact is, the recent string of lawmakers that have fallen from grace for vote-buying have all belonged to the pan-blue camp,” Hsiao said.
Hsiao insinuated that the KMT was trying to direct the attention of prosecutors to the DPP alone so that pan-blue candidates would be able to buy votes unhampered.
Hsiao urged the public to help end vote-buying by immediately reporting anyone purchasing or attempting to purchase votes.
At a separate setting yesterday, KMT Spokesman Lee Chien-jung (李建榮) dismissed the DPP’s accusations and urged Tsai not to shift the focus off prosecutors’ investigations into election bribery.
“The DPP is like a thief who is afraid of being caught and is trying to shift the focus by smearing the KMT,” Lee said.
Lee said the KMT would call for unity within the party and take precautions against potential election tricks by the DPP.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MO YAN-CHIH AND CNA
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