President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has recorded the lowest approval rating since his inauguration in 2008, with his Cabinet members also struggling to win approval, a public opinion survey released yesterday showed.
Ma’s latest approval rating of 12.8 percent was the lowest yet in a tracking poll that began when Ma took office in May 2008: 75.2 percent of respondents said they were not satisfied with the president’s performance, according to the Taiwan Indicators Survey Research (TISR) poll.
Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) had an approval rating of 17.8 percent, up 1.9 percentage points from last month, and a disapproval rating of 57.6 percent.
The survey, which focused on the performances of 15 Cabinet members, found that the respondents were either unfamiliar with the officials or unhappy with their performance, with the percentages of the answer “no impression about this official” ranging from 39.1 percent to 71 percent.
For those who were familiar with specific Cabinet members, Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Wen-ta (邱文達) was the least popular official with a 43.3 percent disapproval rating, followed by Minister of Economic Affairs Chang Chia-juch (張家祝) at 33.6 percent and Minister of Education Chiang Wei-ling (蔣偉寧) at 32.1 percent.
Council for Economic Planning and Development Minister Kuan Chung-min (管中閔) ranked fourth with a 28.8 percent disapproval rating, and Minister of the Interior Lee Hong-yuan (李鴻源) was the fifth-least popular with a 26.7 percent disapproval rating.
However, respondents’ opinions toward Lee and Minister of Culture Lung Ying-tai (龍應台) were split, as Lee also received the highest approval rating of 27 percent among the 15 members, while Lung had an approval rating of 26.7 percent and a disapproval rating of 25.8 percent.
No Cabinet members other than Lee and Lung received approval ratings higher than 12.1 percent.
A further breakdown found that 48.6 percent of those who identified themselves as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supporters approved of Lee’s performance and 46.2 percent supported Lung, according to the TISR.
The poll, conducted on Sunday and Monday, collected 1,006 valid samples and had a margin of error of 3.1 percent.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
STAY COOL: The HPA recommended that people stay hydrated, use air-conditioning or fans while indoors, wear loose-fitting clothes and walk in the shade while outdoors Employers must implement measures such as installing cooling equipment, and providing drinking water and rest breaks for outdoor workers starting from Monday next week, the Taipei Department of Labor said on Sunday. Employers who fail to comply could face fines of NT$30,000 to NT$300,000 under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法), the department said. Businesses in Taipei employing fewer than 100 workers, as well as registered self-employed workers with labor insurance coverage, could receive on-site assessments and guidance from occupational safety consultants to help them apply for central government subsidies to implement or improve heat-protection measures, it said. Under the Ministry of
RSS