A Facebook-based survey found Minister of National Defense Feng Shih-kuan (馮世寬) to be the most unpopular Cabinet member, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus said yesterday in its appraisal of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration’s first 100 days in office.
The caucus said it commissioned Sway Strategy, a research institute, to conduct a survey on Facebook users’ perception of the Cabinet, led by Premier Lin Chuan (林全), since it took office on May 20.
As of Tuesday, the survey — which tallied the posts, shares, likes and comments made on Taiwan’s public communities on Facebook about ministers and department chiefs — found Feng, Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) and Minister of Health and Welfare Lin Tzou-yien (林奏延) as the three officials who received the most complaints among the 29 ministries and departments.
They were trailed by Executive Yuan spokesperson Tung Chen-yuan (童振源), Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (李大維), Minister of the Interior Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮), Minister of Labor Kuo Fong-yu (郭芳煜) and Minister of Economic Affairs Lee Chih-kung (李世光).
“Feng drew the highest number of dislikes, 53.2 percent of which stemmed from the misfiring of a Hsiung Feng III missile on July 1. Hochen came in second, with his most criticized measure being the cancelation of the toll-free measures on highways during national holidays,” KMT caucus secretary-general Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) told a news conference.
Lin was blasted for failing to mention Taiwan in his WHA speech, while Tung was panned for his remarks about the Okinotori atoll controversy, Chiang added.
Facebook users were most dissatisfied with David Lee and Yeh in their dealings and responses concerning the South China Sea ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague and associated potential fishery disputes, the survey showed.
“The minister of labor, unsurprisingly, received the greatest number of critical comments for the ‘one fixed day and one rest day’ policy, which has given rise to a series of protests and censures, and the minister of economic affairs was criticized for a proposal to reactivate the [mothballed] nuclear power plant,” Chiang said.
“The complaints against the officials can be grouped into two main categories: upholding the nation’s sovereignty and promoting public livelihood,” Chiang said.
The survey shows that the “public is displeased with the Tsai administration’s handling of these issues,” Chiang said.
He called on Tsai to “seriously consider whether these ministers should remain in their posts.”
“It would be better than apologizing and stepping down after making major mistakes,” Chiang said.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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