In a “United Daily News” opinion poll conducted on the evening of Dec. 6, 44 percent of those surveyed felt the ruling Kuomintang had lost the elections, and gave poor administrative performance, inappropriate policies and dissatisfaction with President Ma as the three main reasons for the defeat.
The UDN’s trend analysis showed President Ma enjoyed a high approval rating of 66 percent when he took office in May 2008, but popular support fell to 40 percent two months into his term. Though it went up to 47 percent on his 100th day in office, the number slid as low as 37 percent in November 2008.
Ma’s job approval rating climbed back up to 52 percent one year after he assumed the presidency. However, it plunged to 29 percent in the wake of Typhoon Morakot in August. Support for Ma’s administration went up slightly to 34 percent after former Premier Liu Chao-shiuan resigned in early September.
Given the unfavorable results in the Dec. 5 local elections, Ma suffered a disapproval rating of 49 percent, up from 45 percent in an earlier survey. Even among pan-blue supporters, 38 percent were not satisfied with Ma’s performance.
In comparison to Ma, only 24 percent of those interviewed disapproved of Tsai’s performance. Tsai experienced low approval ratings in November 2008, during the visit of Chen Yunlin, chairman of the Association for Relations across the Taiwan Strait, and when the DPP staged an anti-Ma Ying-jeou rally in May 2009.
Allowed to choose more than one answer in response to why the KMT lost a large number of votes compared to the previous election, 46 percent of the interviewees cited poor government performance as the leading factor; 44 percent chose the pushing of an economic cooperation agreement framework with the Chinese mainland and the partial opening of U.S. beef imports; while 39 percent saw it as a vote of no-confidence for President Ma.
Fewer than 20 percent regarded poor local government performance, an improper nomination system, inadequate grassroots campaigning or good DPP performance as reasons for the KMT’s disappointing outcome.
Results of the survey were based on telephone interviews with 1,066 adults. Some 340 people declined to be interviewed. The survey has a confidence level of 95 percent, with a sampling margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. (LC-THN)