Team of Spokespersons of Ma-Siew Campaign Headquarters: Go Back to the Basics, Keep the Campaign Focus on the Economy and Bread-and-Butter Issues

KMT Press Release

Team of Spokespersons of Ma-Siew Campaign Headquarters: Go Back to the Basics, Keep the Campaign Focus on the Economy and Bread-and-Butter Issues

February 21, 2008

The team of spokespersons of the KMT Ma-Siew Campaign Headquarters called a press conference on Wednesday to unveil the latest poll on popular feelings toward economic development and bread-and-butter issues. Six spokespersons, including Tsai Shi-ping, Su Jun-pin, Hsieh Kuo-liang, Shyu Jong-shyoung, Supo Kao, and Chen Ming-yi, were present at the press conference. On behalf of the team, Tsai pledged to keep the focus of the KMT’s Presidential election campaign on economic policies and bread-and-butter issues. “We are now in the final countdown to the Presidential election. It is our responsibility as spokespeople of the Ma-Siew campaign to explain to the electorate in a clear and sensible manner the KMT’s policies on the economy and bread-and-butter issues, which I believe are the people’s primary concern,” said Tsai.

With the Presidential election only a month or so away, political parties are curious as to what the people want to hear from KMT Presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou and DPP Presidential candidate Frank Hsieh regarding their policies for the future. The opinion poll conducted by a private agency on behalf of the Ma-Siew Campaign Headquarters from February 12 to 15 shows that 86.8% of people surveyed want to hear Ma talk about economic policies and bread-and-butter issues, whereas only 13.2% want to hear about political issues. The former covers the areas of economic policies, bread-and-butter issues, unemployment, education policies, social welfare, agriculture, finance and taxation, law and order, and the widening gap between rich and poor. The political issues of interest to some people include national identity, independence/reunification, return/admission to the United Nations, and communal issues.

The poll also shows that 87.5% of people surveyed want to hear Hsieh talk about economic policies and bread-and-butter issues, while only 12.5% want to hear him talk about political issues. The former covers the usual areas aforementioned, as well as transportation and communications development and environmental protection. The political issues people want to hear Hsieh talk about include independence/reunification, national identity, measures required to reconciliate the confrontation between ruling and opposition parties, and corruption involving individuals and political parties.

The poll reveals that the primary concern for people aged 25 to 50 is policies on the economy and bread-and-butter issues. Over 90% of people aged 25 to 50 surveyed indicate that they want to hear the Presidential candidates talk about these policies. Of the people surveyed, those with high school or higher education are keener to know about these policies. It is understood from the poll that the majority of people, regardless of the political party/camp they support, all want to hear the Presidential candidates talk about these policies. Political issues are of interest to only a small portion of the people surveyed.

In the press conference, the team of spokespersons of the Ma-Siew Campaign Headquarters unveiled the poll results and pledged to listen to the voice of the people and respond to the expectations of the people. “We will do our best to fulfill our responsibilities as a team for the KMT’s Presidential campaign and propose sensible policies on the economy and bread-and-butter issues. We would like to appeal to the DPP camp to go back to the basics in the campaign. We would gladly accept the DPP’s invitation of a public debate on policies of any subject,” said the spokespersons.

The poll was targeted at Taiwan residents aged 20 and above in 23 cities and counties. The poll was conducted from 6:20 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., February 12 to 15, and contained 1017 samples. The theoretical maximum sampling error is in the range of ±3.1% (on a confidence level of 95%).

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