Premier William Lai’s (賴清德) high approval rating of nearly 70 percent is believed to have helped boost President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) rating toward 50 percent, while more than half of Taiwanese support a proposal to amend the Constitution, a poll released yesterday by the Taiwan Style Foundation showed.
Lai, who assumed the post on Sept. 8, has garnered the approval of 68.8 percent of respondents, while 23 percent expressed dissatisfaction.
Regarding Lai’s ability to revive the economy, 63.5 percent said they are confident, compared with 30.2 percent who said they were not, while 65.2 percent think his executive ability is good, compared with 21 percent who do not agree.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
The premier is heeding public opinion, according to 60.2 percent of respondents, while 30.3 percent said he is not.
Tsai’s approval rating stands at 49.7 percent, while her disapproval rating is at 45.1 percent. Just over half of respondents at 54.8 percent said they support Tsai, while 40.4 percent said they do not.
Tsai’s satisfaction rating had fallen to a record low of 18.4 percent in a poll released in May by Taiwan Democracy Watch ahead of the first anniversary of her presidency.
“In terms of polling performance, the [administration] has weathered an unstable period after Lai’s inauguration,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智) said.
The poll suggests that controversies surrounding the administration’s reform policies have ended, while efficiently implementing the policies is to be the next challenge, foundation board director Wang Zhin-sheng (王智盛) said.
When asked about a proposal by Tsai and the DPP to amend the Constitution, 56 percent of respondents said they approve, while 22.1 percent disapproved.
Half of the respondents opposed lowering the minimum voting age from 20 to 18, while 46.8 percent approved of the potential constitutional amendment.
Human rights protection should be codified into the Constitution, 69.8 percent of the respondents said, but 17.3 percent said it is not necessary.
Seventy-two percent believe that legislative elections should be revised to prevent unequal representation, while 17.8 percent said the revision is not necessary.
While 80.9 percent of respondents are in favor of a proposal put forth by Tsai in her Double Ten National Day address to hold a political party leaders’ meeting, 13.6 percent disapproved.
Regarding cross-strait policy, two-thirds of respondents said they support Tsai’s statement that the nation would continue to show goodwill and stay true to its promises without returning to a confrontational relationship or succumbing to Beijing’s pressure, while 24.9 percent said they disapproved.
The poll conducted on Thursday and Friday collected 1,072 valid samples and has a confidence level of 95 percent with a margin of error of 2.99 percentage points.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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