James Soong, chairman of the People First Party (PFP), is seven points ahead of Hung Hsiu-chu, the presidential candidate of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT). That’s according to a poll released by the Taipei-based United Daily News on Friday.
The poll was conducted on Thursday, the day Soong announced his presidential bid. The latest poll gives Democratic Progressive Party candidate Tsai Ing-wen the lead at 36% in a three-way race, compared with Soong’s 24% and Hung’s 17%. The PFP is a smaller party in the ruling KMT-led Pan-Blue Coalition.
Speaking to the media on Friday, KMT chairman Eric Chu said a split in the Pan-Blue Coalition is definitely bad for the KMT. The KMT’s presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu said she is not disturbed by the poll results. She said she would continue to work hard on her campaign.
With Soong entering the race, both Tsai’s and Hung’s approval ratings have dropped. But almost 60% of respondents to Thursday’s poll believe that Tsai will win the election in January. That’s up six points from the end of June.