‘Distrust’ source of TPP youth support, experts sayStaff Writer, with CNAThe 3.69 million votes garnered by Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) in Jan. 13’s presidential election reflected the “distrust” felt by many young people toward the country’s two major parties, a Malaysian analyst said. Tan Seng Keat (陳承傑), research manager at the Malaysia-based Merdeka Center for Opinion Research, said a key takeaway from the outcome of the presidential election was how many young voters supported Ko. Photo: EPA-EFEOn the other hand, the loss of youth support should raise the alarm for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), added Tan, who visited Taiwan for the presidential and legislative elections. Ko received 3.69 million votes, 26.46 percent of the total, leaving him in third behind Vice President William Lai (賴清德) of the ruling DPP and New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) of the KMT. Lai received 5.58 million votes in the presidential election, leaving him well short of the 8.17 million received by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) four years ago.
