A majority of Taiwanese are unhappy with President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) performance in office, with both his popularity and public trust levels dropping this month, a poll by the Chinese-language Global Views magazine showed yesterday.
The poll, conducted on last Monday and Tuesday, showed that 52 percent of respondents were unhappy with Ma’s overall performance, compared with 35 percent who said they were satisfied. This represented a 3 percent drop in satisfaction with Ma and a 0.7 percent increase in dissatisfaction with his performance.
Meanwhile, Ma’s trust level was 42.4 percent, a drop of 3 percent from last month.
More than 43 percent of respondents said they did not trust him, a rise of 3.1 percent.
Although the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), of which Ma is chairman, controls nearly 70 percent of the legislative seats, more than 58 percent of respondents said they were not satisfied with the overall performance of KMT legislators, compared with 21.9 percent who were satisfied.
This marked a rise of 3.9 percent in dissatisfaction, while satisfaction fell 7.9 percent. The 7.9 percent drop was the second highest since legislators began their four-year term in 2008 after an 8 percent drop in March 2009.
Respondents said the KMT should see its recent losses in the legislative by-elections in Greater Kaohsiung and Greater Tainan earlier this month as a warning.
The poll surveyed 1,018 adults nationwide with a margin of error of plus and minus 3.1 percent.
Meanwhile, former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said he doubted the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) recent election victories would carry over to the presidential election next year.
Chen said in his latest newsletter, released by his office yesterday, that Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who temporarily stepped down as party chairperson to focus on her presidential election campaign, saw the legislative by-elections in Greater Kaohsiung and Greater Tainan as a an important indicator of the legislative and presidential elections.
While there were undeniable signs that the KMT has been in decline — winning only three seats in the 13 legislative by-elections since September 2009 against the DPP’s nine — it remained to be seen whether the momentum could be sustained in the presidential election, Chen said.
As the KMT seemed keen on holding the legislative election in tandem with the presidential poll and implementing absentee voting, Chen said the DPP should not worry that this would make it easier for the KMT to buy votes or that this would put it at a disadvantage.
“In which elections did we not see vote buying? The DPP still has a chance to win, don’t be afraid,” he said. “Even if the legislative and presidential elections are held together, the DPP must win.”
While Tsai hoped her party would become the largest after the legislative election, Chen said he hoped that the DPP would be able to secure half of the legislative seats and win the presidential election.
People interested in making a presidential bid should do so, but if they are defeated, they should run for legislator, Chen said, without naming individuals.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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