The image of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration has taken a hit since a scandal involving former Executive Yuan secretary-general Lin Yi-shih (林益世) made headlines last month, with a majority of the respondents in a survey released yesterday saying they did not believe Vice President Wu Den-yih’s (吳敦義) claim of innocence in the case and that there are likely more cases of corruption in the government.
Citing the poll conducted by Taiwan Thinktank, Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明), convener of the think tank’s public opinion poll panel, said two out of three — or 66.7 percent of — respondents said they believed more high-ranking government officials were involved in the scandal, while 73.4 percent said they believed there were more undiscovered scandals.
Despite Wu in the past week pleading his innocence in the case, 64.4 percent of those polled said Wu’s explanation was questionable, while only 15.4 percent said they believed Wu and 20.2 percent said they had no opinion.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Ma has also been hurt by the widening scandal, with his “integrity index,” which asked respondents to rate the president’s integrity on a scale of zero to 10, falling from 5.84 in May to 5.43 this month, according to the poll.
Half of the respondents were not happy with the performance of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division (SID), saying the SID had been “passive” in its probe into the case, while 31.6 percent said the division had been “aggressive.”
Public dissatisfaction with how the case was handled by government agencies showed as 39.2 percent of the respondents said Chinese-language Next Magazine, which broke the scandal, deserves the most credit for fighting corruption.
Ironically, the magazine has won more recognition than the combined support received by a number of anti-corruption agencies, including the SID, which was supported by 16.2 percent of those polled, the Investigation Bureau (5.6 percent) and Agency Against Corruption (3.3 percent).
The results showed that Wu might have to do more to prove his innocence in the scandal, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) told the press conference hosted by Taiwan Thinktank.
The survey also revealed that the DPP should not be overly happy about the scandal that has dealt a blow to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Lin said, because 41.8 percent of the respondents said both the DPP and the KMT were corrupt.
However, National Sun Yet-sen University political science professor Liao Da-chi (廖達琪) said she saw a “silver lining” in the pessimistic results.
“Perhaps Taiwanese have finally come to realize that it is extremely difficult to have ‘clean politics’ and they should always be skeptical about political parties and politicians,” Liao said.
That mentality is what democracy is all about, she added, because a democratic political system does not encourage people to trust the government completely.
“People’s trust in the media is not a bad thing either, since most well-known scandals, among them the Watergate scandal, were first reported by the media,” Liao said.
The survey on a wide range of issues showed that Ma’s approval ratings remained low at 23.4 percent, while 65.3 percent of the respondents were not satisfied with the president’s performance.
On the US beef controversy, 66.5 percent of those polled said they had no confidence in the government’s ability to implement the international standard for the livestock feed additive ractopamine.
More than half — 56.4 percent — of the respondents supported the stricter standard of 2 parts per billion (ppb), instead of the government-endorsed 10ppb, as the maximum residue level for ractopamine.
The poll collected 1,073 valid samples between Wednesday and Thursday and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old