Print

Mail

wiki links

Poll says partner matters

Results of a recent poll showed the rate of support for President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) re-election bid varies according to whom he is paired with, academics said in Taipei yesterday.

They said vice presidential candidates would play a more decisive role in swaying people's votes than the presidential candidates for next year's presidential election.

"Contrary to what people like to think that vice presidential candidates will not have much impact on the outcome of [next year's] presidential election the truth is that whoever turns out to be Chen's running mate would have a major influence on the electoral outcome," said Chao-hsiang (曲兆祥), director of the Department of Administrative Management at the Chinese Culture University.

Chu made the comments based on the results of a poll released yesterday by the e-Society Research Group.

The poll, conducted on Thursday and Friday for the Chinese Electoral Research Association, interviewed 1,076 people above the age of 20. The margin of error was 3 percent.

The poll suggested that while the pairing of KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) -- running on a joint ticket representing the pan-blue camp -- had the support of between 39.8 and 43.6 percent of the respondents, that of the pan-green camp's presidential ticket headed by Chen saw notable changes when his running mate was changed.

Chen, who announced long ago that he would seek a second term in office, is still keeping the public guessing about who he will pair up with for the election.

Among the speculative candidates the poll had paired Chen with, the pairing with Taipei County Commissioner Su Chen-chang (蘇貞昌) saw the highest supporting rate, or 31.4 percent.

A pairing with Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) received the support of 26.3 percent of the respondents, while a pairing with Premier Yu Shyi-kun received 27.4 percent support and with Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) 26.9 percent.

"Of Taiwan's estimated 12 million eligible voters, the different supporting rates can result in a difference in the number of votes ranging from 600,000 to 800,000," Chu said.

"That is how significant the choice of vice presidential candidate will be in the outcome of the election," Chu said, referring to the 2000 presidential election when Chen won the presidency by beating his opponents with approximately 300,000 votes.

Chen won the 2000 presidential election with 39 percent of the vote. Soong, who ran as an independent, obtained 36 percent, while Lien -- the KMT's candidate -- received 23 percent of the vote

Adding that since the general public has already grown familiar with the style and character of Chen and Lien over the past few years, Chu said that the two men vying for the presidency have lost their "freshness appeal" to the voters.

"On the other hand, vice presidential candidates offer the public excitement as well as a sense of curiosity to about who the person will be and what he or she will offer [the nation] in comparison to the pan-blue camp's Soong," Chu said.
This story has been viewed 1562 times.