TAIPEI (TVBS News) — A new poll reveals divided public opinion over Premier Cho Jung-tai's (卓榮泰) refusal to countersign a budget allocation law passed by the Legislative Yuan (立法院), Taiwan's parliament. The Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation (台灣民意基金會) commissioned Focus Survey Research (山水民意研究公司) to conduct the survey from Sunday to Tuesday (Dec. 15-17). The poll found 43% oppose Cho's decision while 39% support it.
You Ying-lung (游盈隆), chairman of the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation, noted Friday (Dec. 19) the results demonstrate Cho's refusal to implement the opposition-backed amendment lacks consensus among citizens. The poll detailed that 25.5% strongly support the countersignature, while 24.8% strongly oppose it. Another 9.1% expressed no opinion and 8.9% were uncertain or refused to answer. The Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) addresses distribution of tax revenues between central and local governments.
The survey highlighted stark partisan divides, with 80% of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP, 民進黨), Taiwan's ruling party, supporters backing Cho's decision. Meanwhile, 80% of Kuomintang (KMT, 國民黨), Taiwan's main opposition party, supporters and 75% of Taiwan People's Party (TPP, 民眾黨) supporters oppose it. Among median voters, 40.6% oppose Cho's refusal to countersign the legislation.
You emphasized that the stark division reflects a resurgence of traditional partisan confrontations four months after a major recall political storm subsided. The survey used a dual-frame sampling method with landlines and cellphones, polling 1,077 adults aged 20 and above. The margin of error is approximately ±2.99 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. The findings underscore continuing political polarization over budget and fiscal policy in Taiwan. ◼
