Public support for Taiwan president at four-year low after her party gets mired in #MeToo allegations

Public support for Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen dropped to a four-year low after her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) got caught in a wave of #MeToo allegations. According to a report by the South China Morning Post (SCMP) early Sunday (June 25), The Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation put President Tsai's approval rating at 42.3 per cent in June, down from 45.3 per cent in May.

Tsai's disapproval rating rose to 48.2 per cent- the worst since May 2019. The results of this were released on Thursday. Speaking to the SCMP, foundation head Michael You Ying-lung said there were two reasons for the drop in Tsai's popularity.

The first reason is due to the impact of a host of sexual harassment cases on the DPP, You said, adding the second might have been the controversy over her choice of four grand justices to fill vacancies on Taiwan’s constitutional court.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

The wave of sexual harassment allegations

You told the SCMP that President Tsai had to take the blame as all of the alleged incidents of sexual harassment occurred while she was the head of the party. He added that Tsai's close aide Yen Chih-fa was alleged to have been implicated in one of the cases.

The report said that Yen has been accused of sexually harassing a former employee of a campaign group when she worked there in 2018. Yen denied the allegation and resigned on June 6. He withdrew a libel suit against the complainant that he had filed only the day before.

On June 4, Tsai's office said it had no right to start an investigation into the case as the alleged incident did not take place at the presidential office.

Apart from Yen, Chuang Suo-hang, Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to Thailand, stepped down from the post on Wednesday after he was alleged to have sexually harassed a fellow worker at the island's representative office in Bangkok.

Taiwan's foreign ministry said that it asked Chuang to step down after an initial probe into his alleged wrongdoings. The ministry added the complainant reported the case but did not give details.

Tsai's choice of grand justices

As mentioned earlier, the second reason for the drop in Tsai's popularity might have been overher choice of four grand justices to fill vacancies on the constitutional court. The report said that the four nominees were seen as friendly to the DPP, leading to criticism that Tsai had turned the entire 15-seat council of grand justices into a pro-DPP organisation, with future rulings likely to favour the party's political positions.

You also said that other factors for the drop in the president's popularity included inflation and the high cost of living, shrinking exports.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.