Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters appeared to be struggling with the party’s position toward Beijing as a considerable percentage of them agreed that a revised and more moderate China policy would likely increase the party’s chances of returning to power, a survey released yesterday showed.
Of the respondents who identified themselves as DPP supporters in a public opinion poll conducted by Taiwan Indicators Survey Research (TISR), 39.5 percent said that it is necessary for the party to formulate a “more moderate” China policy, while 23.3 percent deemed it unnecessary and 8.7 percent preferred a more conservative policy.
If the DPP pledged that it would not change the nation’s name, the national anthem, the national flag or draft a new Constitution, 51.9 percent of DPP supporters said the party’s chances of returning to power would increase, while 29.2 percent said its chances would remain unchanged and 3.9 percent said that its chances would decrease.
If the party announced its acceptance of the Constitution and the so-called “1992 consensus,” 44.9 percent of DPP supporters responded that would increase the party’s chances of winning the next presidential election, while 24.3 percent said its chances would stay the same and 17.1 percent said that the party’s chances would decrease.
The percentage of the DPP supporters who predicted positive results if the party adopted a more moderate China policy or thought the policy should be fine-tuned was higher than that of the general public.
However, the percentage of DPP supporters who said they found the party “more credible” following the policy change was lower than that of the general public, according to TISR.
“It seems to me that DPP supporters are caught in a paradox, as they see the change critical for winning back power, but would find the party less trustworthy if it did,” TISR general manager Tai Li-an (戴立安) said in a press release.
The survey, which ran from Monday to Wednesday, had 1,000 valid samples and had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
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