President Tsai Ing-wen says she will continue to push reforms despite her plunging approval ratings. She was speaking on Sunday at a youth policy forum organized by the education ministry.
Several recent opinion polls have found that the approval ratings have dropped for both the president and her DPP government.
One college student said she was concerned about Tsai’s low approval ratings, saying that she believed the president has been working hard since taking office in mid-May.
But Tsai said rising and plunging approval ratings are a normal part of governance and that she will stand firm in her push for reforms as long as they benefit Taiwan and are on the right track.
Tsai said the “distribution of benefits” must be overhauled even though people with vested interests might feel uncomfortable about the reforms. The president was referring to the controversial pension reforms which triggered a mass rally in Taipei on Saturday. More than 100,000 veterans, retired civil servants and teachers took to the street in front of the Presidential Office building to protest against the reforms.