NOT EVEN TRYING?The incumbent mayor leads Yu Shyi-kun by 45 percentage points, Su Tseng-chang by 23 and Tsai Ying-wen by 17 even though he may not run
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
A public opinion poll found that former premier Yu Shyi-kun (游錫?) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) would trail New Taipei City (新北市) Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) by 45 percentage points if the two were to contest the city’s mayoral election, which is scheduled for December.
The senior politician had a support rate of 22 percent while the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) mayor had 67 percent, according to the survey conducted by cable television channel TVBS’ poll center.
Taiwan Solidarity Union aspirant Lin Chih-chia (林志嘉) received support from 4 percent of the respondents, with 7 percent undecided, according to the poll released on Thursday.
While Chu is reportedly considering not seeking re-election because of interest in running for president in 2016, Yu only fared slightly better in matchups with other possible KMT candidates, New Taipei City Deputy Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) and Minister of the Interior Lee Hong-yuan (李鴻源), the poll showed.
Yu, who is set to be formally nominated by the DPP as its candidate in New Taipei City next week, trailed Hou by 32 percentage points (25 to 57 percent) and Lee by 9 percentage points (33 to 42 percent).
The poll was not good news for Yu amid rumors that the DPP’s Central Executive Committee could reconsider the nomination due to Yu’s low support rate in the constituency and among the DPP members, some of whom argued that Yu was an “old face” and should make way for younger DPP politicians.
The poll showed that Chu’s popularity was too great to overcome for the DPP, even if DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) or former chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) ran in the race. The poll said Su would lose by 23 percentage points (33 to 56 percent) and Tsai would be behind by 17 percentage points (38 to 55 percent).
Lin’s support rate failed to reach 10 percent in all scenarios, according to the survey.
The poll, conducted between Dec. 31 and Jan. 3, collected 966 valid samples and had a margin of error of 3.2 percentage points.