Former New Taipei City deputy mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) and Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) have the highest favorability ratings among major political figures and candidates running in the Nov. 24 nine-in-one elections, a poll released yesterday by the Taiwan Brain Trust showed.
The poll surveyed eligible voters in the six special municipalities to gauge the approval and favorability ratings of political figures and candidates.
As the municipalities’ residents account for about 70 percent of the nation’s population, the poll also gauged the approval ratings of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Premier William Lai (賴清德).
Photo: CNA
According to the poll, 56.5 percent of respondents disapproved of Tsai’s performance, while 28.8 percent approved.
Lai had an approval rating of 39.3 percent and a disapproval rating of 39 percent, the survey found.
Respondents were given a list of 18 major political figures and mayoral candidates, and were asked to select who they favored. They were allowed to choose multiple names.
Hou was the only figure favored by more than half of respondents, with a favorability rating of 50.2 percent.
He was closely followed by Ko (48.5 percent), Lai (47.9 percent), Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) (43.8 percent) and New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) (43.5 percent).
Tsai, who is the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson, ranked eighth with a favorability rating of 35.6 percent, while Chinese Nationalist Part (KMT) Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) ranked 15th with a favorability rating of 18.6 percent.
Ko had the highest support rate in each of the four scenarios presented to the respondents for the Taipei mayoral election: running against KMT candidate Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) with no DPP candidate; running against Ting and DPP Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智); against Ting and Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu (陳菊), and against Ting and Lai.
Even though some DPP politicians have criticized Ko, and his favorability rating has fallen to 43.3 percent in Taipei, he still received higher support rates — ranging from 44.3 to 53.4 percent — in the other five municipalities, Trend Survey and Research Co general manager Wu Shih-chang (吳世昌) said.
If Ko were to run for president in 2020 and received only 5 percent of the vote, it could still result in Tsai losing the election, he said.
People aged 20 to 39 view Ko most favorably, those 40 to 59 years old prefer Hou, and people older than 60 favor Lai, Wu said.
“Ko has a high support rate and can attract voters from the pan-blue and pan-green camps, as well as neutral voters and even New Power Party (NPP) supporters,” Ketagalan Institute president Chin Heng-wei (金恆煒) said, adding that the DPP faces a challenge in party politics, as its supporters seem less passionate about and alienated from the party.
Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) has the highest approval rating among mayors at 77.5 percent, followed by Lin in Taichung (55.7 percent), who rose to No. 2 after Chen last month left her post as Kaohsiung mayor. Chen ranked No. 2 in the previous poll released in December last year.
The poll was conducted between Monday and Thursday last week through telephone interviews and a stratified proportional sampling of 4,891 adult residents of the six municipalities. It has a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 1.4 percent.
Chen meanwhile yesterday denied that she would run for Taipei mayor, after she was viewed by many DPP supporters as a strong candidate, adding that her duty is to assist the president in pushing forward reforms.
NPP Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) yesterday said in a radio interview that he would also not run for Taipei mayor, because he does not want to split the pro-local and progressive vote, adding that he would not seek an alliance with Ko either.
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
Taiwanese professional baseball should update sports stadiums and boost engagement to enhance fans’ experience, Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview on Friday. The league has urged Farglory Group and the Taipei City Government to improve the Taipei Dome’s outdated equipment, including relatively rudimentary television and sound systems, and poor technology, he said. The Tokyo Dome has markedly better television and sound systems, despite being 30 years old, because its managers continually upgraded its equipment, Tsai said. In contrast, the Taipei Dome lacked even a room for referees
RSS