More than half of the public disagreed that “political persecution” was the motive behind a corruption investigation into Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), a Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation poll found yesterday.
Opposition parties and Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office have said that an investigation into Ko’s alleged role in a corruption case involving a Taipei redevelopment project was motivated by revenge from his political rivals.
However, 54.6 percent of respondents did not consider Ko’s detention to be political persecution, while 28.6 percent said it was.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The poll found that 88 percent of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters disagreed that it was political persecution, and only 6.3 percent thought it was.
Among Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supporters, 45 percent agreed and 41 percent disagreed; as for TPP supporters, 76 percent agreed and 20 percent disagreed.
Among independents, 26 percent agreed, while 31 percent disagreed, and 43 percent said they could not decide or did not know.
While half of respondents aged 20 to 24 thought it was political persecution and the other half disagreed, most people aged 25 or older disagreed, the survey showed.
Ko has wide support among people aged 25 to 34, but 56 percent disagreed that it was political persecution by President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration and only 30 percent said they agreed.
In terms of educational background, the majority from each background disagreed that Ko was politically persecuted, including Ko’s most ardent supporters, those who hold a college degrees or higher.
The foundation also asked respondents if they thought Ko received fair treatment from the Taipei District Court when he was detained and held incommunicado, as opposed to being released without bail three days before.
To this question, 40.3 percent of respondents thought it was fair, while 26.4 percent disagreed and 12 percent had no opinion.
About 65 percent of DPP supporters thought it was fair. KMT supporters were split, with 35 percent agreeing it was fair and 34 percent dissenting. Only 8.8 percent of TPP supporters believed it was fair, while 80 percent disagreed.
Among independent voters, 20 percent agreed, 21 percent disagreed and 58 percent had no opinion.
The poll also showed that most people aged 45 or older believed Ko was treated fairly, while those younger than 45 were split down the middle.
The poll surveyed people aged 20 or older nationwide from Monday to Wednesday via telephone — 70 percent were called via landline and 30 percent via mobile phone.
It collected 1,016 valid samples, including 710 people called via landline and 306 via mobile phone.
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