The results of a new survey show that President Tsai Ing-wen’s approval rating has fallen as her 100th day in office approaches.
The survey was commissioned by Taiwan Thinktank, an organization that is favorable to Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The results, released Friday, show that only 49% of the public approves of her job as president so far, while a further 38% disapproves.
In addition to calculating approval ratings, the survey also looked at perceptions of Tsai’s character and effectiveness as president. More than 60% of respondents said they believe that Tsai is honest. More than 55% said that Tsai is a good communicator, understands the public’s needs, and is worthy of the public’s trust. However, only 44% said they believe Tsai will be effective when it comes to defending Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Pollsters asked respondents to rate their approval of Tsai’s policies. The results show a split in opinion, with two of her most popular policies also finding places in the list of her least popular policies.
Tsai’s reform of party assets was the most popular, finding support among 30% of respondents. This was followed by approval of her pension reform and her efforts at securing time off for workers.
However, this same effort to institute days off for workers also had the highest disapproval rating, at 42%. This was followed by disapproval of her cross-strait policy and her work to reform Taiwan’s pension system.
Polling was conducted by telephone on August 21 and 22, covering all areas of the country and generating 1,069 sample responses. The survey had a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.