The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) cannot afford to be “over-optimistic” about its prospects in the Nov. 29 elections, Taiwan Brain Trust executive director Liu Shih-chung (劉世忠) said yesterday.
At a press conference for the think tank’s latest public opinion poll — conducted every two months — Liu said the DPP should take heed of “warning signs.”
The percentage of respondents withholding their views about the election dropped by 13.4 points to 39.4 percent in the survey conducted from Thursday to Saturday last week, Liu said.
Asked which party they would vote for in the mayoral and commissioner races, 21.9 percent favored Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidates, up 4.1 points from two months ago, while those who preferred DPP nominees was virtually flat at 29.5 percent, Liu said, adding that the number of those who chose other candidates rose by 9.2 points.
Recent moves show that the KMT has been trying to set the election agenda on cross-strait issues and the political confrontation between the camps, Liu said.
Given that 39.4 percent of voters are undecided and critical to determining who wins, the DPP must be wary of KMT strategies to consolidate pan-blue support as well as undermine the DPP’s image, Liu said.
The surveys showed that the ratio of respondents who found the DPP the least likable party “has been steadily rising,” climbing from 11.1 percent in January to 19.2 percent this month, while those who dislike the KMT decreased from 34.9 percent to 31.7 percent during the same period, Liu said.
The survey showed that 24.5 percent saw the KMT as their most favored party, against 17.3 percent in January. That compares with 24.5 percent for the DPP this month, against 26.8 percent in January.
“The DPP’s marginalization in the Sunflower movement, the KMT’s demonization of the DPP, its factional infighting and failure to offer concrete policy proposals” might be driving discontent, Liu said.
Asked about parties’ performance, 55.6 percent said they were dissatisfied with the DPP, up from 46.3 percent in January, while those who were satisfied with the party’s performance dropped from 36.6 percent in January to 27.3 percent, the survey showed.
Meanwhile, public dissatisfaction with the KMT’s performance decreased from 77.8 percent in January to 69.2 percent in August, while its satisfaction rating rose from 13.5 percent to 23.6 percent during the same period.
Ma’s approval rating was 21 percent, while Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) garnered 23 percent and the Cabinet 20.2 percent, the survey showed.
The survey gathered 1,207 valid samples with a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percent, the think tank said.
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
RSS