Taipei, Nov. 12 (CNA) Independent presidential candidate James Soong's support rate has shot up 6.4 percent since his naming of heart surgeon Chang Chao-hsiung as his running mate, according to the results of a Gallup poll released on Friday.
The telephone survey of 1,081 adults, conducted on Thursday after Soong announced his choice of running mate, found that 35.5 percent of the respondents would vote for Soong if the presidential election were to take place the following day.
A similar Gallup poll conducted a week ago showed that Soong's support rate was 29.1 percent.
Sanlih Entertainment Television, which has commissioned Gallup Taiwan Co. to conduct a series of opinion polls in the runup to the next presidential election scheduled for March 2000, said Soong's support rate has risen steadily over the past three months. His support rate was 25.3 percent when Gallup conducted its first Sanlih-commissioned presidential opinion poll.
The latest Gallup poll also found that opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian received a support rate of 19.9 percent, while ruling Kuomintang candidate Vice President Lien Chan's support rate trailed at 12.1 percent.
In the previous two Sanlih-commissioned polls, Chen's support rates were 16.9 percent and 22.5 percent, compared to Lien's 10.5 percent and 12.4 percent.
According to Thursday's survey, 27.1 percent of the respondents said they believe that Soong's choice of running mate will be a boon to his presidential bid, and only 14.6 percent said they think the choice will have a negative impact.
Meanwhile, 94.3 percent of those interviewed said they will definitely exercise their right to vote in the March 18 presidential election.
The survey also found that 36.5 percent of the respondents believe Soong, a former Taiwan governor and KMT powerhouse, is the most competent to lead Taiwan into the new millennium among all the presidential candidates; 18.4 percent said they believe Chen is most capable; and 17.1 percent opted for Lien.
More than 30 percent said they think that Lien's choice of Premier Vincent Siew as his running mate will have an adverse impact on his presidential bid, but 24.7 percent said they believe Lien's running mate choice will be a plus to his presidential campaign.
As for Chen's running mate choice, 37.1 percent said they believe that Chen will benefit if he chooses incumbent Taoyuan County Magistrate Annette Lu as his running mate, while 17.4 percent disagreed.
About 40 percent of those interviewed also said they think Soong should take the initiative and denounce his KMT membership now that he has decided to run a rival campaign against the ruling party's presidential ticket, but 31.3 percent said they do not think he should voluntarily withdraw from the party.
Meanwhile, the three Sanlih-commissioned Gallup polls found that the ratio of swing -- undecided -- voters has declined steadily, from 34.4 percent in September, 28 percent in early November to 27.4 percent in Thursday's poll. (By Sofia Wu)
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