Friday, Apr 23, 2010, Page 8

President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) popularity rose slightly last month to 26.6 percent, according to the latest poll by the Chinese-language Global Views (遠見) magazine, an increase of 2.8 percent from a month earlier.

Despite the increase, last month’s figure means that Ma’s approval ratings have remained below 30 percent for 19 consecutive months, since just four months into his term — a disastrous run by any standards.

When Ma swept to power with almost 60 percent of the vote in March 2008, he inherited a functioning democracy and an economy that could almost run on autopilot. The global financial crisis aside, it is hard to fathom how he could have made such a mess of things and how his popularity could fall so far, so fast.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2010/04/23/2003471244