By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
The credibility of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has dropped back to a key low point, while Minister of the Interior Lee Hung-yuan (李鴻源) ranked first in a survey of public opinion on Cabinet members. The survey indicated generally poor approval ratings for the entire government.
Ma’s latest credibility rating of 28.2 percent was the same as in early July and was the lowest on record since he took office in 2008, with 55.8 percent of respondents saying they did not trust him, according to the survey released by Taiwan Indicator Survey Research (TISR) yesterday.
The poll also found that Ma’s approval ratings remained low at 21.3 percent, with 69.6 percent of those polled saying they were not satisfied with Ma’s governance.
The Cabinet, led by Premier Sean Chen, frequently described as an “economic Cabinet,” did not fare well in the survey which sought to gauge opinions on 12 Cabinet members.
Lee, an expert on hydraulic engineering, managed to outperform his colleagues, receiving an approval rating of 31.6 percent, compared with an 18.2 percent disapproval rate. Lee was the only one who enjoyed a higher approval rating than disapproval rating.
He was followed by Minister of Transportation and Communication Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) who had an approval rating of 23.2 percent, Council of Labor Affairs Minister Jennifer Wang (王如玄) at 18.1 percent and Mainland Affairs Council Minister Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) at 15.5 percent.
Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Bao-ji (陳保基) was the least popular Cabinet member, with an approval rating of just 7.1 percent, while Council for Economic Planning and Development Minister Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) ranked second from bottom with 7.5 percent.
Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-hsiang (施顏祥) had the highest disapproval rating among the Cabinet at 42.2 percent.
The number of approval and disapproval ratings were low because more than 40 percent of respondents said they “had no impression whatsoever” on the 12 ministers’ performance.