After last Friday’s registration deadline passed and independent candidate Terry Guo (郭台銘) dropped out, there is now a three-way race in the 2024 Taiwan presidential election, between candidates representing the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP).
Polls from MyFormosa, which has updated its numbers more often than any other Taiwanese polling operation (once every three days since July 17), show a dip this week in support for TPP presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) that coincides with a bump for the DPP’s Lai Ching-te (賴清德). This could indicate that light-green supporters are leaving the TPP’s camp.
The Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation’s polls, however, show a small increase in support for Ko and the KMT’s Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), while Lai’s support was down, and there was an increase in the percentage of undecided voters.
DPP presidential and vice presidential candidates Lai Ching-te and Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) kicked off their campaign this week with a video bearing the message “vote for someone who’s as good as you” (選一個和你一樣好的人). Hou Yu-ih and running mate Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) announced that they plan to organize three large-scale rallies on a weekly basis to attract votes. Ko Wen-je visited Hsinchu’s Hukou Township, a deep-blue stronghold, to attend rallies and visited the streets to talk to potential voters, but turnout was low.
The TPP has seen a wave of departures following last week’s breakdown of talks with the KMT to form a pan-blue coalition, most notably Changhua County councilors Chen Chong-chia (陳重嘉) and Chen Tsun-tsun (陳銌銌). In response to this, the former Taipei mayor penned a letter addressed to all TPP members, emphasising the importance of unity and belief. He said he remained optimistic about his party’s ability to influence and change Taiwan’s political landscape, despite the challenges they face.
The three presidential candidates met up with labor representatives yesterday. Lai, whose father was a miner, focused on what the current DPP administration has done for workers while trying to connect with his audience by saying, “I’m from a family of laborers,” the vice president said. “I have always understood the hardship these labourers go through. The DPP, the political party I lead, has always stood side by side with our labor friends since it was formed.” Ko of the TPP highlighted problems Taiwan’s workers face but mentioned no specific policies. New Taipei City Mayor Hou has articulated the clearest labor policy proposals, but most working-class voters will probably reject him because of his party affiliation. Both Ko and Hou also said they support the unionization of government workers.
After the event, labor groups opened an online poll. A total of 2,339 people voted, 67% of whom agreed with the political views proposed by Ko, 21% with Lai’s, and 10% with Hou’s.
In other election news, 315 candidates have registered for the legislative elections, with 178 at-large candidates representing 16 different parties. Ten candidates are running for the seat representing Taipei’s Constituency 5, which includes Wanhua District and parts of Zhongzheng District. The DPP is not running a candidate for the seat representing the offshore island of Kinmen.
Local media this week has highlighted TPP candidate Ko’s running mate, Cynthia Wu (吳欣盈), regarding her U.S. citizenship status and personal finances, as both KMT and DPP politicians have raised questions about the two subjects. In response to the allegations, the Central Election Commission (CEC) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) have stated that they are currently investigating all three pairs of candidates.
Finally, 72-year-old Xu Baidi (徐百弟), who was a Hong Kong district councillor for 17 years before migrating to Taiwan in 2021, is running to represent Tamsui in the Legislative Yuan. Xu said he knows he won’t win. He’s running to raise awareness of problems facing migrants from Hong Kong. Xu is head of the Chinese Taiwan and Hong Kong Brotherly Love Counseling Association/Taiwan (中華博愛台港共榮協會).
Leave a Reply