A majority of respondents found neither President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) nor Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) credible and do not trust the fairness of law enforcement officials, according to the results of a survey carried out by Taiwan Indicate Survey Research (TISR) which was released yesterday.
The research, conducted on Monday and Tuesday, found that only 32.7 percent of respondents said they trust Ma while 53.1 percent said they do not trust the president.
Only 24.3 percent of those polled found Wu, who has been embroiled in an alleged corruption case centered around former Legislative Yuan secretary-general Lin Yi-shih (林益世), credible, while 60.6 percent said the vice president is not trustworthy.
Leaders of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) outperformed the most powerful duo in the country in the credibility test, with 45.3 percent of respondents saying they trust DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and 49.4 percent saying that former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is credible.
A more detailed breakdown found that Ma and Wu appeared to have lost the support of many of those who consider themselves to be swing voters.
Among this group, only 25.4 percent said Ma is credible and 14.2 percent placed their trust in Wu. By comparison, 44.2 percent of swing voters said they trust Tsai and 35.9 percent found Su credible.
The survey also found that 65.4 percent of the respondents said they disagreed that law enforcement officials — including police officers, prosecutors and criminal investigators — have upheld justice and fairness in carrying out their duties. Only 24.9 percent of those polled agreed.
Comparing the survey with a pair of similar polls conducted in 2006 and 2009, public trust in the judiciary and law enforcement system has been consistently sliding, dropping from 35.8 percent in 2006 to 29.9 percent in 2009 and 24.9 percent this year, TISR general manager Tai Li-an (戴立安) said in a press release.
Asked whether the judicial system was able to uphold justice and fairness, 63.3 percent of respondents disagreed, while 24.3 percent agreed.
The survey also found Ma’s latest approval ratings still hovering around the low 20s at 22.6 percent, with Premier Sean Chen (陳冲) doing slightly better at 24.1 percent.
The poll collected 1,010 valid samples and has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
WHEELING AND DEALING? Hou You-yi, Ko Wen-je, Eric Chu and Ma Ying-jeou are under investigation for allegedly offering bribes for the other side to drop out of the race Taipei prosecutors have started an investigation into allegations that four top politicians involved in attempts to form a “blue-white” presidential ticket have contravened election regulations. Listed as defendants are Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate and New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the KMT and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲). The case stemmed from judicial complaints filed last month with the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office alleging that the KMT (blue) and the TPP (white) had engaged in bribery by offering money or other enticements
ELIGIBLE FOR JANUARY: All presidential candidates and their running mates meet the requirements to run for office, and none hold dual citizenship, the CEC said Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator and vice presidential candidate Cynthia Wu (吳欣盈) is working with the Central Election Commission (CEC) to resolve issues with her financial disclosure statement, a spokesman for the candidate said yesterday, after the commission published the statements of all three presidential candidates and their running mates, while confirming their eligibility to run in the Jan. 13 election. Wu’s office spokesman, Chen Yu-cheng (陳宥丞), said the candidate encountered unforeseen difficulties disclosing her husband’s finances due to being suddenly thrust into the campaign. She is also the first vice presidential nominee to have a foreign spouse, complicating the reporting of
GOOD NEWS: Although open civic spaces are shrinking in Asia-Pacific countries and territories, Taiwan’s openness is a positive sign, an expert said Taiwan remains the only country in Asia with an “open” civic space for the fifth consecutive year, the Civicus Monitor said in a report released yesterday. The People Power Under Attack 2023 report named Taiwan as one of only 37 open countries or territories out of 198 globally, and the only one in Asia. Compiled by Civicus — a global alliance of civil society organizations dedicated to bolstering civil action — the ranking compiled annually since 2017 measures the state of freedom of association, peaceful assembly and expression around the world. Researchers assign each country or territory one of five rankings describing the
NOT JUST CHIPS: Although semiconductor processes are on the list, it also includes military technology and post-quantum cryptography to combat emerging cyberthreats The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) yesterday released a list of 22 technologies it considers crucial to the nation’s security and competitiveness, including the 14-nanometer semiconductor process and advanced chip packaging. For the first time, the council made a list of core technologies with an aim of preventing secret information about those technologies being leaked to foreign countries, which could put the nation’s security and the competitiveness of local industries at risk. For years, local semiconductor companies have faced challenges from talent poaching and theft of corporate secrets by Chinese competitors, who are seeking to rapidly advance their technology capabilities through
RSS