A poll has found that Hon Hai Precision Industry Co chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) would beat President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in a presidential election if the election were to take place tomorrow.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday responded by saying it is pointless to respond to a hypothetical question.
Gou has been on the lips of some local media and a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairperson candidate for his possible candidacy, particularly after it was reported that he visited the White House for meetings with US President Donald Trump.
In the China Times Weekly poll, 35.7 percent of respondents said they would vote for Gou, if a presidential election were to take place tomorrow, compared with Tsai’s 24.2 percent; 22.5 percent did not respond to the question.
Tsai fared better only among those aged between 20 and 29, with 35.8 percent support over Gou’s 28 percent.
All other age groups favored Gou, with those aged between 40 and 49 the most supportive of the tycoon, who with 46 percent of support held a 28.8-point lead over Tsai’s 17.2 percent.
The magazine said even though Tsai received more backing from young people, the percentage has greatly declined, and the fact that those with work experience — especially those aged between 40 and 59 — strongly sided with Gou shows the middle class’ trust in him to lead economic growth.
The poll indicated that Tsai would have a slight lead over Gou in Yunlin, Chiayi and Tainan (23.4 percent to 23.3 percent) if the election were tomorrow, but in other regions, even in the “Kaohsiung, Pingtung and outlying islands” region, which is considered the DPP’s traditional stronghold, Gou received 32 percent support to Tsai’s 30.3 percent.
The region that saw the greatest gap in support is that of Taichung, Changhua and Nantou, with Gou gaining 40.7 percent in contrast to Tsai’s 17.4 percent.
Gou received 82.6 percent support from pan-blue voters, while only 1.8 percent of them said they would support Tsai; 71.6 percent of pan-green voters said they would favor Tsai, but 12.1 percent said they would vote for Gou.
The poll was conducted on Tuesday, with 825 effective samples and a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.
KMT Legislator Lee Yan-hsiu (李彥秀) said that while Gou is a successful businessman, “Whether he could be accepted by the party and by the voters would need more discussion following the chairperson election.”
DPP Deputy Secretary-General Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) said it is pointless to comment on a hypothetical question.
The DPP and Tsai are working for a better economy and life for Taiwanese and would take all kinds of polls into consideration, she added.
Additional Reporting by Su Fang-ho
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