President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文)/CNA file photo
Taipei, May 16 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is supported by more than half of Taiwan's adults but only around four in every 10 of them are satisfied with her performance, a poll by Tsai's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has found.
According to results of the poll released Wednesday, ahead of the second anniversary of her presidency on May 20, 54.9 percent of respondents said they supported Tsai, compared with 40 percent who did not.
Only 41.7 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with her performance, however, while 48.4 percent said they dissatisfied.
When asking what policy they were most satisfied with, 16.6 percent of respondents said long-term care, followed by pension reform (15.7 percent), childcare (8.7 percent), raising salaries or the minimum wage (8.2 percent), and building up the country's indigenous defense industry capability (3.3 percent).
DPP Deputy Secretary-General Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) said the results showing majority support for Tsai but general dissatisfaction with her performance were the result of different views of her attempts at reforms.
Some respondents wanted reforms to move at a faster pace, while others hoped they will move at a slower pace or not move forward at all, Hsu said, leading to the difference between Tsai's support and satisfaction ratings.
The survey, which was conducted May 14-15 among randomly selected adults, collected 1,020 valid samples. It had a confidence level of 95 percent, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
The poll's results painted a rosier picture of satisfaction with Tsai's performance than other surveys conducted by media organizations.
A poll released Monday by Apple Daily found that 34 percent of respondents were satisfied with the government's performance compared to 62 percent who were dissatisfied.
On specific policies, 59.34 percent of respondents were dissatisfied with the government's two amendments of the Labor Standards Act in a year, while 29.34 percent were satisfied.
About two-thirds (67.6 percent) were dissatisfied with Tsai's handling of relations with China while only 22.37 percent were satisfied, and 68.04 percent were dissatisfied with her handling of the economy, against only 20.42 percent who were satisfied.
A United Daily News survey released Sunday found that 29 percent of respondents were satisfied with the job Tsai was doing, down from 30 percent in last year's UDN poll, and 56 percent were dissatisfied, up from 50 percent last year.
In the latest TVBS poll, Tsai's satisfaction rating was only 26 percent, down 2 percentage points from a year ago, against a dissatisfaction rate of 60 percent.
(By Lu Hsin-hui and Evelyn Kao)
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