One year on from the Sunflower movement, people are now more supportive of a third political force in next year’s legislative elections, a survey conducted by the Taiwan Brain Trust showed yesterday.
“The Sunflower movement last year was a very important event in Taiwanese politics; it certainly contributed to the election of independent Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and could have an impact on next year’s legislative election,” the think tank’s chairman, Wu Rong-i (吳榮義), told a news conference to release the results of the poll conducted last week on current political issues.
“According to the poll, 46.4 percent of respondents said they might or would definitely support candidates from a third political force and 46 percent said they would cast their second vote for a third political party,” Wu said.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
As many as 58.4 percent of respondents believed that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was defeated in last year’s nine-in-one elections not by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but by young voters and society as a whole, Wu added.
“As many as 54.9 percent of respondents are opposed to the prosecution of people who took part in the Sunflower movement, and only 37.8 percent believe the prosecutions are legitimate,” Wu said.
However, although 72.3 percent of respondents believe that the DPP will defeat the KMT in next year’s presidential election, the results of the poll show that the DPP’s support rate, while higher than the KMT’s, is dropping.
“The support rate for the KMT grew slightly from 11 percent [in December] to 16.7 percent [in January] and 18.3 percent now, while its dissatisfaction rate dropped from 80 percent [in December] to 77.2 percent [in January] and to 74.9 percent now, showing that its decline may have halted,” Soochow University associate professor of political science Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said. “Meanwhile, the dissatisfaction rate with the DPP climbed from 35.4 percent [in December] to 43.1 percent [in January] and to 38.4 percent now, while its approval rating slid from 46.3 percent [in January] to 37.8 percent.”
“The drop in approval ratings among pan-green supporters — from 67.4 percent to 54.8 percent — is especially obvious. It might have been caused by the recent scandals over the council speaker election and [the DPP] presidential primary, but it is a warning sign for the DPP,” he added.
While the support rate for both parties remained low, the approval ratings for both parties’ chairpersons were high — with the DPP’s Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) garnering 59.6 percent, while the KMT’s Eric Chu (朱立倫), the New Taipei City mayor, received 52.4 percent.
“Interestingly, both politicians attract support from each other’s party,” Hsu said. “If we compare the results to the high support for a third political force, we may infer that party lines have blurred.”
In such a climate, political parties should employ new thinking and new strategies, Hsu said.
GEOPOLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The CGA’s nonmilitary role makes it a tool to avert diplomatic issues, an official said, while confirming the donation of a ship to Manila Coast Guard Administration (CGA) ships are scheduled to sail to the Philippines bearing the words “Taiwan Coast Guard” in a high-profile visit in October next year, the first such visit by a Taiwanese maritime law enforcement vessel to the Southeast Asian nation, the agency said yesterday. The CGA also confirmed that it had donated one of its decommissioned patrol vessels to the Philippines in a rare transfer of a retired ship to a nondiplomatic ally. The Republic of China (ROC) Navy last made such a visit in 1974, shortly before the Philippines switched diplomatic recognition to the People’s Republic of China in
SOFT TENNIS: Yu Kai-wen and Huang Shih-yuan narrowly defeated their Japanese rivals to capture Taiwan’s first gold at the Asian Games in Nagoya Yu Kai-wen (余凱文) and Huang Shih-yuan (黃詩媛) won Taiwan’s first gold of this year’s Asian Games, defeating a Japanese duo in a nail-biter in the soft tennis mixed doubles final in Nagoya, Japan, while Johnny Sun (孫家閎) won silver in wushu and Shih Cheng-chung (石政中) won bronze in men’s kumite. Yu and Huang narrowly defeated Japan’s Toshiki Uematsu and Rena Temma 5-4 (2-4, 5-3, 4-2, 1-4, 1-4, 4-0, 1-4, 4-1, 7-5) to give Taiwan its first gold in soft tennis mixed doubles at an Asian Games since 2018. Sun secured Taiwan’s first wushu medal at this year’s game, with a combined score
CALL FOR CHANGE: They urged the UN to facilitate Taiwan’s involvement in the body, recognize its peace efforts and to work with members in preventing military conflict Representatives to the UN from five of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies sent a joint letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday, calling for the country’s inclusion in the body. Allies in the letter sent ahead of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly General Debate made three demands in support of Taiwan: inclusion, recognition and camaraderie. They implored the UN to seek an appropriate way to facilitate Taiwan’s meaningful involvement in the world governing body, saying that UN Resolution 2758, which accepted the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as a member of the UN, does not exclude Taiwan. Beijing claims that the
AT-RISK GROUPS: Of the accumulated 1,586 severe cases and 304 related deaths in this flu season, 65.8% were older people and 83.2% had chronic diseases, an official said The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said that 165 severe flu cases and 30 flu-related deaths were reported last week, the highest weekly numbers in this flu season, and that cases might continue to increase, urging people to take precautions. Medical visits for flu-like illnesses increased by 1.4 percent to 141,374 last week, with 11.8 percent being emergency visits, showing that the seasonal flu is still in its epidemic period, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said. From Tuesday last week to Monday, 165 severe flu cases and 30 flu-related deaths were confirmed, the highest weekly numbers
RSS