Taiwan’s People Party (TPP) presidential candidate Ko Wen-je rejected concerns over the prospect of voters abandoning him in favour of Kuomintang (KMT) in the upcoming election.

“70 per cent of voters do not want the Kuomintang (KMT) to be the ruling party,” Ko claimed, as quoted by Liberty Times on Dec. 16. Both Ko and Hou Yu-ih of the KMT are running against William Lai of the incumbent Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Ko was reported by Taipei Times as saying that he was feeling “confident” of winning the election.

‘Third force’ emerges in Taiwan: Ko

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a campaign event in support of a TPP legislative candidate in Kaoshiung, Ko claimed that a “third force” had emerged in Taiwan, referring to his party.

Ko was referring to the outcome of the Taipei mayoral election in Nov. 2022.

While Chiang Wan-an of the KMT ultimately emerged victorious, independent candidate Vivian Huang Shan-shan, backed by the TPP, managed to take about 25 per cent of the vote.

Ko said, “About 65 per cent of Taiwanese want a new party in power, but there is also 70 per cent who do not want the KMT to be the ruling party.”

“If you do not believe it, conduct an opinion poll,” he told the gathered reporters.

Although Ko did not quote the sources for his data, it is believed that he might be alluding to recent opinion polls.

KMT receiving about 30 per cent of support: Polls

In a poll by Taiwan’s broadcasting station TVBS from Nov. 24 to 26, KMT received support from 31 per cent of respondents, according to an article by South China Morning Post.

This poll was conducted after the collapse of the proposed joint-ticket campaign between KMT and TPP.

Similarly, SCMP cited another poll conducted by an American-based analytics company Gallup, released on Nov. 28. It showed that KMT had about 30 per cent of support from the respondents.

However, it should be noted that KMT receiving 30 per cent of support from these polls does not necessarily mean that the rest of the voters outright oppose KMT.

One leg in either boat?

For example, some voters may support both KMT and TPP.

Recent opinion polls were conducted islandwide for all three contesting parties, according to Taipei Times and Taiwan News.

Here is a chart compiling the results of these polls:

Some potential voters who supported TPP in earlier polls could also have supported KMT in later polls.

Meanwhile, support for the incumbent Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) appeared to remain relatively constant at around 29 to 34 per cent.

About 1 month to go before the big day

With about a month to go before the election, all three presidential candidates campaigned in southern Taiwan over the weekend of Dec. 16 and 17, Focus Taiwan reported.

Ko reportedly began his campaign in Kaohsiung, then visited Tainan, before concluding the day in Taichung.

Top image from KP_Taiwan/X.