A little more than two months remain before the local elections, and the Taipei City mayoral battle is heating up. Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je recently announced Taipei Culture Foundation Chairperson Hsiao Yeh has become his campaign secretary-general. In respones, the KMT candidate Ting Shou-chung said Hsiao Yeh should resign to protect administrative neutrality.
Kuomintang Taipei City mayoral candidate Ting Shou-chung recently attended an event to announce the formation of a Hakka supporters' group. KMT Chairperson Wu Dun-yih as well as former Chairperson Wu Po-hsiung were on hand to support Ting. They said the KMT's chances of returning to the presidency will be boosted if Ting is elected mayor.
Incumbent Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je recently announced novelist and Taipei Culture Foundation Chairperson Hsiao Yeh is his new campaign secretary-general. In response, Ting said Hsiao Yeh should resign.
I think the Taipei Culture Foundation has already become Ko Wen-je's campaign foundation. This is not right.
In response to questions about Hsiao Yeh's administrative neutrality, Ko said there are no issues.
I asked him about this beforehand, and he said he would directly request a leave of absence which will last during the entire election period.
On Sept. 17, Hsiao Yeh attended his first meeting at Ko's campaign headquarters. Ko said Hsiao Yeh is a media professional with a lot of experience. Meanwhile, the Taipei City Government is hoping to appeal to voters by making taxis part of the public transport system. It is planning on increasing the taxi subsidies for senior citizens to encourage the elderly to head outdoors. A recent opinion poll showed Ko's support rating at 34.9 percent, a lead of only four percentage points over Ting. Pasuya Yao, the Democratic Progressive Party's candidate, has a support rating of just 10.4 percent. However, he has an explanation.
The Democratic Progressive Party is often the subject of fake news because it is the ruling party. I think many supporters are remaining silent and unwilling to speak up, so I am taking these contradictory elements into account when looking at this opinion poll. The three-way race should still be very clear.
Yao added he doesn't only consider the figures when looking at opinion polls, because insights interpreted from the data are also important. Recent opinion polls have showed Ko's popularity is waning, while Ting's support remains steady and Yao's support is fluctuating greatly. Yao says it would be premature to speak about allegiance shifts among DPP supporters, and he is confident of his chances and will continue to campaign.