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TAIPEI : Taiwan's municipal elections are still a few months away, but the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) is already feeling the heat.
Various polls have shown disappointment with the cabinet's performance.
This has prompted a senior KMT adviser to call for a major cabinet reshuffle before the November elections.
One year after taking over the premiership, Wu Dun-yih appears proud of what his cabinet has achieved.
He said: "Every cabinet member has room to improve and we will do it. If President Ma (Ying-jeou) thinks I should fine tune it, I could do it in just three seconds."
However, his confidence has not translated into public satisfaction.
The latest poll conducted by the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) shows over 52 per cent of Taiwanese disapprove of Premier Wu's performance.
He is blamed for the island's higher unemployment rate, and the wider gap between rich and poor, according to the DPP.
Premier Wu's cabinet is also perceived to be favouring business conglomerates by an overwhelming 70 per cent of poll respondents.
To salvage the party's negative image ahead of the November elections, a senior KMT adviser has called for most of the cabinet members to be replaced.
In response, Premier Wu said: "His suggestion is precise. We lack communication, but we can't all be good at words and being less honest. That is also a problem. "
But it is not just poor communication that is the problem.
Another survey by Taiwan's Commonwealth Magazine has found that among the 25 counties and cities, the top six are under the DPP's rule.
Taipei, the traditional KMT stronghold, ranked fifth from last.
DPP's chairwoman, Tsai Ing Wen, said: "This is the rotten root after years of KMT's domination. We hope people in those areas with poor satisfaction with KMT will give us a chance to (improve) things."
The DPP said it hopes to make a clean sweep and win all five mayoral seats up for election.
Many KMT supporters fear that if the party loses the Taipei mayoral election, it could trigger a domino effect, leading to defeat in the 2012 presidential election. However, observers said it is unlikely, since most Taiwanese are pleased with the warming of cross-strait relations under the KMT government. - CNA/ms
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