Taipei (The China Post/ANN) - Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou yesterday repeatedly promised to improve his governance as his popularity hit new lows and opposition lawmakers sought to recall him.
Ma said he would seriously contemplate the meaning of the people's response and the popularity ratings.
He stressed that his reforms would not change but said he would listen more to the people when carrying them out.
â¿¿I will evaluate, evaluate and evaluate again; improve, improve and improve more; work hard, work hard and work even harder,â¿ Ma said in an unusually emphatic way.
Various public opinion polls conducted ahead of his inauguration to the second presidential term have given him the worst popularity ratings he has ever received since taking office in 2008.
The United Daily News â¿¿ a usually pro-Kuomintang newspaper â¿¿ said its survey on May 17 showed that 66 percent of the respondents disapprove of Ma's governance, while only 23 percent are satisfied with him.
It is the lowest popularity rating he has received in the newspaper's series of surveys on the president's performance.
He received an approval rating of 66 percent on the day of his inauguration to the first term on May 20, 2008, while the disapproval rating was low at only 10 percent, according to the paper.
According to the latest survey, 57 percent of the respondents think Ma does not respect public opinions, while only 37 percent think he does.
A total of 56 percent of the people have no confidence in Ma's capability to lead Taiwan, compared to 38 percent who said they do.
A private think tank also published the results of its survey on Ma. Respondents gave him an average of 3.5 out of 10 for his understanding of the people's needs.
Meanwhile, opposition lawmakers attempted to have a law change to make it possible to recall Ma in the coming months.
The existing law does not allow any attempts to recall a president before the end of the first year of the current term.
This means Ma will be sheltered from recall bids for a year after he is inaugurated to the second term tomorrow.
Lawmakers from Democratic Progressive party, Taiwan Solidarity Union and People First Party proposed to lift the first-year ban.
They asked to have their bill forwarded directly to the second reading, but their ruling Kuomintang colleagues managed to block it.