The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on Tuesday proposed two methods of conducting polls to determine whether the TPP’s Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) or the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Hou You-yi (侯友宜) is the strongest candidate to run against Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate, in the Jan. 13 presidential election.
The TPP also called for Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘), an independent presidential hopeful, to be included in the polls.
The proposals were unveiled at a news conference at TPP headquarters by former Taipei deputy mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊), Ko’s campaign manager.
Photo: Liu Shin-de, Taipei Times
The move came after the TPP, an opposition party formed in 2019 by Ko, on Sunday rejected the KMT’s proposal a day earlier that an open primary be held to determine who would be the opposition’s candidate if the two parties join forces.
The two parties originally said they would schedule a second meeting by noon on Sunday last week to discuss the matter, but that plan has been put on hold.
With less than 90 days remaining to the presidential election in January, recent polls indicate a likely win for Lai, while Hou and Ko compete to claim second place, and Gou trails in last place.
According the polls, cooperation between Ko and Hou could be crucial for an opposition candidate to win the presidential election.
The TPP’s proposals suggest that five pollsters would be hired to conduct polls with 3,000 samples each, half conducted by landline and the other half through mobile phones, or all via mobile phone.
However, to avoid any manipulation, the pollsters commissioned would only be announced at a later time, and the survey time frame would not be made public.
Individuals receiving such information would need to sign a nondisclosure agreement, and the polls should be counted null, if anyone breaches the confidentiality agreement, the proposals suggest.
According to the TPP’s first proposal, Hou, Ko and Gou would be pitted against Lai, and their support in this setting contributes to 50 percent of the final score.
Respondents would also be asked whom they would back if the election were a three-way race between Hou, Ko and Gou, and the responses would account for the other 50 percent of the final score.
The second proposal suggests Ko, Hou and Gou be pitted against Lai individually, and whoever receives the highest support be the candidate, regardless of his success against Lai in the polls.
The deadline for political parties to register their presidential candidate with the Central Election Commission is Nov. 24, and the KMT’s proposal to hold an open primary is too time-consuming and costly to carry out, Huang said, adding that the method would also leave the presidential hopefuls underrepresented.
Asked about the TPP’s proposed polling methods, King Pu-tsung (金溥聰), Hou’s campaign executive officer, told reporters that the TPP was “domineering” by expecting the KMT to go along with its proposals.
If the TPP attempts to force its plans on the KMT, there is no need to discuss the next step, King said.
Since the two parties are both seeking to form an alliance, he hopes they can work out an acceptable compromise, King added.
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