TAIPEI - Almost half of Taiwanese doubt "president" Chen Shui-bian's pledge to hand government control to Taiwan's "premier" to take responsibility for a series of scandals, and 43 percent said they want him to resign, a poll said Friday.

Chao Chien-ming, a doctor married to Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian's daughter, is escorted by Bureau of Investigation agents in Taipei May 24, 2006. Chao and four members of Chen's family were questioned on Wednesday by Bureau of Investigation agents probing a snowballing insider trading scandal. [Reuters]

On Thursday, Chen pledged to give full control of the "Cabinet" to "premier" Su Tseng-chang and vowed to not interfere in the affairs of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party following accusations of corruption involving his administration and family.

Forty-nine percent of respondents to the poll said they did not believe Chen would cede power, 18 percent said they thought he would, and the remainder said they didn't know, according to the China Times newspaper which conducted the poll.

Meanwhile, 28 percent of respondents said Chen should be allowed to complete his second term in office - set to end in 2008 - while 43 percent said they want him to step down now, according to the poll. The rest had no opinion.

Chen's announcement ceding power came in the wake of damaging allegations against his son-in-law, his wife and a close political ally.

On May 24, police arrested Chen's son-in-law Chao Chien-min on suspicion he used inside information to profit from the purchase of shares in partly state-owned property company Taiwan Development Corp. Chao has denied the charges.

The opposition has also accused Chen's wife of receiving free vouchers from the management of an upscale Taipei department store, and says she may have played a role in its takeover by a businessman whose bid was less than that of at least one rival suitor. The "presidential office" has denied any wrongdoing in that case.

On Thursday, "presidential" Deputy Secretary-General Ma Yong-cheng resigned following opposition accusations that he got involved in business deals and took favors from executives - accusations that he also has denied.

The newspaper conducted the poll of 704 people by telephone Thursday night. It has a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points.