There are more people who do not want President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to serve another term than those who do, according to a poll released yesterday by the National Policy Foundation, a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) think tank.
Of the respondents, 45.5 percent said they do not support her re-election, 38.1 percent said they did and 16.4 percent said they were undecided, the poll found.
Half of the respondents said they were dissatisfied with the performance of Tsai’s administration, compared with 42.9 percent who said otherwise.
Photo: CNA
While 24.4 percent said they were “extremely dissatisfied,” 8.7 percent said they were “extremely satisfied.”
The number of people who said they were “somewhat satisfied” and “somewhat dissatisfied” was 34.2 percent and 24.4 percent respectively.
Asked which party they would support in next year’s elections, 27.8 percent said they would vote for the KMT, 24 percent said the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), 8.2 percent said the Taiwan People’s Party and 4.7 percent said the New Power Party.
Fifteen point three percent said they did not support any political party, while 13.6 percent abstained. The remainder supported other parties.
Almost half the respondents, 47.1 percent, said they supported work being resumed on the mothballed Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮), compared with 41.5 percent who were against it and 11.4 percent who abstained.
Asked if they supported the anti-extradition bill protests in Hong Kong, 54.5 percent said “yes.”
The think tank asked whether they would still support the rallies if protesters paralyzed the airport and rioted on the streets, obstructing traffic.
To that question, 42.5 percent answered “yes,” while 43.4 percent said “no.”
Asked whether they agree with the statement: “Today’s Hong Kong is tomorrow’s Taiwan,” 47.2 percent said they do not, while 44.2 percent that said they do.
The think tank asked respondents whether it was because Hong Kong belongs to China and Taiwan belongs to the Republic of China.
To that, 60 percent said “yes,” while 28.5 percent said “no” and 11.4 percent abstained.
The majority of people, 56.9 percent, said they were not convinced that the Tsai administration raising the minimum wage would help mitigate the unemployment rate and low wages, while 29 percent said otherwise and 14.1 percent abstained.
Regarding the government’s investigation into the duty-free cigarette smuggling scandal and the punishments it had meted out so far, 53.5 percent said they were not satisfied, while 22.9 percent said they were.
Most respondents were averse to having the Theory of the Undetermined Status of Taiwan taught in high-school history classes, with 50.6 percent of respondents opposing it, 26.6 percent welcoming it and 22.8 percent abstaining.
In addition, 43 percent of people said they lacked confidence in the curriculum guidelines for the 12-year national education system published earlier this year, while 41.6 percent abstained and 15.4 percent said they had faith in them.
The survey, conducted by Taiwan User Friendly Services & Technologies Co and commissioned by the foundation, had 1,070 valid samples and a margin of error of 3 percent.
Foundation research division director Huang Hsin-hua (黃心華) said the Tsai administration faltering in every category of the poll showed that it lacked credibility, adding that voters should decide carefully when casting their ballots in next year’s elections.
Citing the survey, KMT Taipei City Councilor Yu Shu-hui (游淑慧) said that despite Tsai having support, only 20.8 percent of people aged 20 to 29 said they backed the DPP.
This shows that the DPP is a one-person show and if Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), whose support base is similar to that of Tsai’s, throws his hat in the ring, it would surely deal a blow to Tsai’s support rating, she said.
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