TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) marks his first year in office with a 45.7% approval rating, according to a new poll.
On Tuesday, the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation released its latest survey showing Lai's approval rating dipped slightly from the previous month. Meanwhile, his disapproval rating declined 8.7 percentage points to 37.4%.
TPOF Chair You Ying-lung (游盈隆) said the drop in disapproval suggests a notable decrease in public dissatisfaction. The proportion of respondents who expressed no opinion or said they did not know rose by 8.4%, not by gaining new support but by turning critics into neutral observers, said You.
The survey asked: “President Lai Ching-te's first year in office is approaching. Generally speaking, do you approve or disapprove of his handling of national affairs, including key personnel appointments and policies?” The results showed 16.4% strongly approve, 29.3% somewhat approve, 19.8% somewhat disapprove,17.6% strongly disapprove, 11.9% had no opinion, and 5% said they did not know or refused to answer.
You asserted that these figures convey a clear message: “One year into his presidency, Lai Ching-te is still popular with the majority of people, with his approval rating remaining at a moderate level.” Compared to last month, his approval rating dropped 0.2%.
Overall, 8.3% more people approve than disapprove of Lai’s performance. You suggested that this shows Lai has moved past his earlier political challenges and regained broader public favor.
However, You stressed that this shift does not appear to be driven by an increase in support, but by former critics becoming undecided or withholding judgment. You described this as a noteworthy change in public sentiment and said the underlying reasons merit further analysis.
Lai’s 45.7% approval marks the second-lowest since he took office on May 20, 2024. His approval has hovered around 46% for two consecutive months, reflecting one of the lower periods in his first year.
His average approval rating over the past year was 48.4%. His lowest point came at the six-month mark when his approval dropped to 42.8%, mainly due to public backlash after the Constitutional Court ruled parts of the KMT-dominated Legislative Yuan's reform bills unconstitutional. You said this event also “marked the end of the president's honeymoon period.”
You concluded Lai has enjoyed the majority support for most of his first year in office. His popularity has remained stable at a mid-to-high level, with no major ups or downs, indicating he is a president generally recognized and welcomed by the public.
Data for the poll was collected from May 12–14, using a dual-frame random sampling method (70% landlines, 30% mobile phones), targeting Taiwanese aged 20 and over. The sample size included 1,080 valid responses (756 via landline, 324 via mobile), with a margin of error of ±2.98 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
