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TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu’s (韓國瑜) approval rating surpassed public support for Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) and President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), reports said Tuesday (March 19).
According to a Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation (TPOF) survey, 52.1% of respondents were satisfied with Han’s performance since he was sworn in on Feb.1, and 34.2% disagreed. Over the past few days, the Kuomintang (KMT) politician was the target of criticism for calling an early ending to a questioning session with the premier. However, the incident occurred on March 15, after the survey was conducted.
Chen and his Cabinet came second in the popularity poll, with support from 48.6%, while the president finished third with 45.7%. Negative opinions stood at 39.9% and 46.9% respectively.
Tsai will step down on May 20 at the end of her second and final four-year term. She will be succeeded by Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴清德), who won the Jan. 13 elections. Premier Chen is also expected to leave with Tsai to make way for a new Cabinet.
Han received wide support from all age groups except for respondents from 25 to 34 years of age, TPOF Chair Ying-lung You (游盈隆) said. The group was almost equally divided between supporters and detractors of the legislative speaker.
The polling expert said he was surprised by the 58% support level Han won from people in the age range of 20 to 24, per UDN. The positive rating marked a change from previous surveys, he said.
Looking at political parties, Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) finished first with 31.4%. The KMT came second with 21.9%, followed by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) at 19.2%.
The TPOF poll was conducted March 11-13 and produced 1,090 valid samples with a margin of error of 2.97%.
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