Ma Ying-jeou's approval sinks to record 9pc amid KMT infighting
Poll shows president's approval at historic low of 9pc, drawing calls for him to step down as he continues fight to oust speaker of legislature
Taiwan's ruling Kuomintang yesterday appealed against a Taipei court's order that allowed party rival Wang Jin-pyng to temporarily keep his KMT membership and his post as speaker of the island's legislature.
The move came as the KMT sought to contain an escalating political crisis that saw Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou's approval rating slip to an all-time low of 9.2 per cent and public pressure mounting on him to resign. Ma initiated the ouster of Wang, his long-time rival.
A three-member legal team from the KMT went to the high court yesterday to file an appeal against a lower court's order on Friday that blocked Ma's bid to oust Wang from his post.
"We maintain that the court has no power to determine a party's internal dispute," said Chen Ming, one of the KMT lawyers, citing a similar ruling by Japan.
"Also, Wang already lost his [speaker's] status the minute when the legislature received a Central Election Commission's notice that he was no longer a KMT member," Chen said.
Ma's decision to go after Wang triggered a public outcry with many seeing Ma's ouster of Wang as inappropriate.
An opinion poll conducted by the TVBS news network late last week found that Ma's approval rating dropped to 11 per cent from more than 65 per cent when he was first elected as president in 2008.