A survey by a Chinese-language newspaper showed that public approval ratings for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) are running at a high 42 percent. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was second in public approval at 33 percent and its ally the People's First Party (PFP) unexpected scored last, after the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU).
The survey, published in the China Times yesterday, also showed that Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) is the public's current favorite to be the DPP's next chairman, and that more support Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to be the KMT's next chairman over Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平).
The China Times telephone survey was conducted from Sept. 12 through Sept. 16 through a random sampling of people with telephone listings throughout the nation. The survey had 1,509 replies and an estimated 2.6 percent margin of error.
Forty-two percent of the 1,509 respondents said that they were either "highly satisfied" or "somewhat satisfied" with the DPP's performance. Only 33 percent said the same about the KMT. The TSU chalked up 31 percent approval ratings, beating the PFP's score of 25 percent -- a surprising result given that the PFP has more seats in the legislature than the TSU.
One DPP lawmaker said yesterday that the PFP's poor showing in the survey is the result of its focus on reversing the presidential election results.
"Voters do not approve of the PFP's unending attempts to discredit the March presidential election and create a special investigation committee," said legislator Julian Kuo (郭正亮) during a press conference. "The voters are tired of political battles; each party should develop with an eye to the future."
PFP caucus whip Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) admitted yesterday that the party's own opinion polls have also shown support slipping in recent months. The newspaper survey figures, however, are a far cry from the reality, said Liu.
The figures are misleading, said KMT whip Huang Teh-fu (黃德福), because they reflect public approval, not actual voter support. In terms of voter mobilization, said Huang yesterday, the PFP is ahead of the TSU, and the KMT is ahead of the DPP.
The public's choices for future DPP and KMT heads also generated speculation yesterday.
According to results, 23.1 percent of respondents want Su to inherit President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) seat as DPP chairman. Kao-hsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) came in second at 15.4 percent and Premier Yu Shyi-kun was third, with 10 percent.
The No. 1 candidate for KMT chief was Ma with 37 percent, while Wang was second with 22.8 per-cent. PFP Chairman James Soong (
Wang, who has expressed his interest in becoming KMT chair-man, had a humble response.
"The numbers for me are inaccurate," he said. "They can't be so high."
Ma, speaking at the second Asian Crisis Management Conference yesterday, said only that now was not the time to discuss party succession.
The survey also revealed that while 21 percent of respondents believed that the proposed merger between the KMT and PFP should happen before the year-end legislative elections, over half of the respondents claiming to be either KMT or PFP supporters supported an earlier merger.
"The merger has already been slated for next February," Liu said."There would be big problems if we merged before the year-end."
RSS