Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智) on Saturday said his support ratings, like those of several other DPP candidates, should be at least 15 percent higher than recent polls show.
Since the DPP is the ruling party and has a legislative majority, many of its supporters might be less willing to voice their position, and are caught up in a spiral of silence, the Taipei mayoral candidate said.
Support for the party’s candidate for New Taipei City mayor, former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) and Yilan County commissioner candidate Chen Ou-po (陳歐珀), were all underestimated by at least 15 percent, Yao said.
Photo: CNA
Ask for his response, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) on Saturday said nationwide poll results showed reduced support for DPP candidates after the south was battered in August by rain and floods, but their support rates would probably soon rise.
Election wins are a combination of the right people, place and time, and sometimes outside incidents can have an influence the, such as the controversy over Taiwanese K-pop star Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜) in 2016, so candidates can only do their best with what they can control, Ko said.
Yao also vowed that if he wins, he would ban the raising of the Chinese national flag in Taipei.
“If I become the mayor, unless raising our national flag is allowed in Beijing or Shanghai, raising the five-star red flag will not be allowed in Taipei” based on the spirit of mutual equality and dignity, he said.
He would also remove the remaining statues of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) from public institutions in the city to speed up the process of transitional justice.
Yao’s and Ko’s Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rival, Ting Shou-chung (丁守中), yesterday said that city residents are more concerned about long hours and low salaries, and few really care about removing statues of Chiang.
Manipulating ideology would not accelerate Taipei’s development nor increase residents’ income, Ting said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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