A poll released on Monday showed the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential ticket ahead at 31.4 percent support, with the other two parties trailing at about 27 percent each.
The poll was conducted from Monday to Wednesday last week, just after a breakdown in talks between the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) over a united ticket for the January election, but before the registration deadline on Friday.
DPP candidate William Lai (賴清德) was leading with 31.4 percent, followed by TPP candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) with 27.3 percent and KMT candidate Hou You-yi (侯友宜) slightly behind with 26.6 percent, according to the poll by World United Formosans for Independence and the Taiwan National Security Institute.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
About 14.7 percent were undecided.
The DPP also led in the party vote with 34.8 percent, but the KMT took second spot at 26.5 percent and the TPP trailed behind with 18.7 percent support.
The New Power Party was polling at 3.3 percent and the Taiwan Statebuilding Party at 2.8 percent.
Respondents were also asked about foreign relations, with 47.4 percent supporting the formal establishment of diplomatic relations with the US.
The percentage of people saying the government “should definitely” work toward establishing relations was higher than in previous editions of the poll, at 29.5 percent compared with 26.5 percent last year and 40.8 percent in 2021.
The telephone poll had 1,084 valid responses, half via landline and half mobile, with a 95 percent confidence level and 2.98 percentage point margin of error.
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