President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) level of support among the nation’s youth is lagging behind that of his potential opponents, sources from within the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said, but they remained confident that Ma could narrow the gap as he increases interaction.
Ma has recently taken part in a number of high-profile events where young people made up a majority of the audience.
Late last month he shared a stage with pop singer Wang Lee-hom (王力宏) at a forum. Ma also recently met with students from St John’s University in Tamsui (淡水) and chatted with them about his administration’s policies to pique their interest in national affairs.
Earlier this year, Ma also launched a Facebook page in an apparent effort to attract the attention of the nation’s youth and netizens. Presidential Office spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) has said that Ma is planning to meet his Facebook fans and asked them to fill out a questionnaire to tell him how they wanted the meetings to be arranged.
Sources say the KMT’s polling center has also stepped up work since the beginning of the year, conducting surveys on various issues.
There remains “a gap to a certain extent” between Ma’s popularity among voters under the age of 30 and that of his “potential adversaries,” sources within the party said, declining to comment further on Ma’s popularity levels for voters below age 25, saying only that there was significant room for improvement.
According to party analyses, although the nation’s economy has taken a turn for the better, people below the age of 30, especially those still in school or fresh out of college, have not felt the rebound as strongly.
Low wages, high real-estate prices and rising costs have made an impact on the younger generation and have led to more complaints and discontent, one source said, adding that the young generation are typically unhappy with whoever is in power.
The source said the Ma administration’s “reinforcing policies,” including implementing a luxury tax and increasing employment, should start to take effect in the latter half of the year, adding that Ma’s personal interaction with young people and students should also act in his favor in closing the support gap.
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