With less than 100 days to go until the Jan. 14 presidential and legislative elections, the recent announcement by the Global Views Survey Research Center that it would no longer be conducting surveys on political issues has caused much debate.
The center announced on Tuesday that it would no longer conduct polls on elections or political issues because of a shift in corporate policy and the center’s director, Tai Li-an (戴立安), also resigned.
The center was founded in 2006 and thereafter it began a series of surveys, ranging from economic to political. The center’s surveys also included public opinion on the implementation of the government’s policies, as well as opinion on the nation’s various political parties.
In an interview on Wednesday with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper), Tai said he was told on Tuesday that the center would be shifting roles and would no longer be conducting surveys on elections or political issues.
Tai said the announcement was rather abrupt and that it was the reason he had resigned.
Tai said he created the center in 2006 and that it was even acknowledged as a credible and neutral source in US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks. He said the sudden announcement had caused him to feel nothing but regret.
In response to rumors that the announcement came after political pressure, Tai said he could not make a comment because of the uncertainty of the information, but he “believes that the upper echelons of the company have a more complete plan.”
Tai said he would officially leave his post at the end of this month after he finishes handing over his responsibilities to his successors, adding that he had made no plans with regard to what his next job would be.
According to data Tai has collected on the elections since Typhoon Morakot caused widespread flooding in 2009, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has a 4 to 6 percent lead over President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Analyzing the data with current conditions in mind, Tai said that there was still a 4 to 6 percent gap between the candidates.
In other words, both parties were trying to close a gap between 48 percent and 52 percent of votes, Tai said, adding that Tsai held the upper hand at the moment.
Because of the slim gap, Tai said he was worried that the cost of trying to change the outcome of the elections had decreased, adding that future elections would further challenge voters and the maturity of the campaigning parties.
Long years of tracking shows that the KMT’s support base is lower than 50 percent and with both parties almost neck-and-neck in the support ratings, it is shaping up to be a tough election for the party in power, Tai said.
Tai said surveys of neutral voters showed that they showed a higher degree of autonomy and their support for Tsai was on the high side, a situation that mirrored neutral voters’ support for Ma in the 2008 presidential election.
Because of the low satisfaction with Ma’s policy implementation that has been highlighted in the center’s surveys, some suspect that the “shifting role” of the center is the result of political pressure.
Translated by Jake Chung, staff writer
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by