離開
進入《TAIPEI TIMES》Disapproval of legislature high: survey
From left, Chiu Shih-yi, a professor of political science at Tunghai University, Taiwan Inspiration Association chief executive officer Lai Rong-wei and Fan Shih-ping, a professor of political science at National Taiwan Normal University, attend a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
INSPIRATION ASSOCIATION: Among those who disapproved of the legislature, 36.1 percent said that the budget review process had been slow and inefficient
By Hsu Yung-ching and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Strong public dissatisfaction with the opposition-controlled Legislative Yuan is a stinging rebuke of the Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT） and the Taiwan People’s Party （TPP）, the Taiwan Inspiration Association told a news conference in Taipei yesterday, citing the results of a poll.
The survey of Taiwanese aged 20 or older from Sept. 10 to Tuesday last week showed that 63.4 percent of respondents disapproved of the legislature, while 34.8 percent approved of the institution.
Asked to rate the legislature’s performance, 5.9 percent of respondents said they strongly approved of it, 28.9 percent said they somewhat approved, while 29.4 percent said they somewhat disapproved, 34 percent strongly disapproved and 1.8 percent had no opinion.
The survey showed that 41.9 percent of those who disapproved of the legislative branch were dissatisfied with partisanship obstructing the government’s business and 40.5 percent were dissatisfied that parties put themselves above national interests.
Also among those who disapproved of the legislature, 36.1 percent said the budget review process had been slow and inefficient, 25.3 percent said legislators did not solve problems affecting the livelihood of ordinary Taiwanese and 22.5 percent said important laws were not passed.
The public overwhelmingly supported the Cabinet’s plan to increase the share of military spending to 3 percent of GDP, with 68 percent backing the proposal, the Taiwan Inspiration Association said, adding that 39.4 percent highly supported the measure and 29.4 percent somewhat supported it.
It said that 30.4 percent disapproved of boosting defense spending — with 17.4 somewhat disapproving, 13 percent strongly disapproving and 0.8 percent having no opinion.
In a breakdown by political affiliation, 94 percent of Democratic Progressive Party supporters, 58 percent of independents, 48 percent of KMT supporters and 39 percent of TPP supporters approved of raising the defense budget, the association said.
It said that 57.7 percent opposed the KMT-backed slashing of the Presidential Office’s discretionary spending, while 40.7 percent supported the move. Among those who opposed the move, 26.3 percent strongly disapproved and 31.4 percent somewhat disapproved.
The survey showed that 79.8 percent supported a planned NT$10,000 cash handout as part of next year’s annual budget, with 34.1 strongly approving of the measure and 45.7 percent somewhat approving of it, while 19.9 percent disapproved of the handout — comprising 14 percent who somewhat disapproved and 5.9 percent who strongly disapproved.
More than 75 percent of respondents in each political party affiliation group agreed with the proposed payouts, making it the most widely supported proposed policy measure in the survey.
The poll, which was conducted by InvosData, garnered 1,200 valid samples and had a 95 percent confidence level with a 2.83 percentage point margin of error.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
