President Ma’s disapproval rating rose sharply

According to a recent poll conducted by Taiwan Thinktank, President Ma Ying-jeou’s disapproval rating rose to 62.5% in April.   The poll also showed that Ma’s approval rating dropped to 26%.  The previous poll, conducted in March, indicated that Ma’s disapproval rating is 49.7% and approval rating is 38.5%.  Three months ago, Ma won January presidential election with 51% of popular vote.  The results of recent survey also revealed that 44% of voters feel they chose the wrong candidate Ma in the presidential election.  The results were consistent with surveys recently conducted by other institutions.   Taiwan Brain Trust poll showed Ma’s approval rating is down to 18.7%, while the disapproval rating is slightly above 70%.  TVBS, a pro-Ma television station, also conducted a survey and the results are very much similar to the polls conducted by these two institutions.  After Ma won the election, he made a series of announcements which angered the voters.  President Ma ignored public opinion and professional assessments and decided to lift a ban on US beef in February.  In March, Ma proposed a “one country, two areas” concept to China without a serious public debate in Taiwan.   Then Ma announced the increase of fuel and electricity price.  Other interesting survey results are: 1. most Taiwanese are not happy and suspicious about the direction in which Ma is taking the nation. 2. 59.4% said Ma was not an honest president, his character is questionable. 3. 77.6% of respondents said issues related to people’s daily lives should be the top priority. 4. 65.9% of respondents said national competitiveness had gone down in the past year.  It concluded that Ma’s fall from grace in opinion polls since the election is unprecedented.