As the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is expected to replace its presidential candidate, Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) — possibly with KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) — at an extraordinary party congress tomorrow, results of a survey show that the change might bring the party an increase in support.
With the election less than 100 days away, a Taiwan Indicators Survey Research (TISR) opinion poll showed that although Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) would still lead if Chu replaces Hung, the margin would shrink from 31 percent to 23 percent.
If Hung remains the KMT nominee, Tsai would have 46.8 percent support, while Hung would have 16.5 percent and People First Party presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) would have 13.5 percent, the results showed.
However, if Chu replaces Hung 44.6 percent of respondents said they would still support Tsai, while Chu would receive 21 percent support and Soong 12 percent.
Despite Chu’s advantage over Hung in the poll, respondents indicated a lack of confidence over his ability to push reform in the KMT.
The survey showed that 29.6 percent of respondents said they believe Chu is capable of pushing reforms, while 51.3 percent said they did not believe he is.
When asked whether Tsai would handle cross-strait relationships according to the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution, 42 percent of respondents said that she would, while 41.2 percent said she would not.
When asked about the future of the cross-strait relationship, 60 percent supported a policy of Taiwan and China as separate nations or exchanges according to the Constitution, while 27.4 percent said they backed President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) support of the so-called “1992 consensus.”
The “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides of the Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
The survey was conducted by telephone on Monday and Tuesday, collecting 1,003 valid samples.
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