“This is because Ko is rather straightforward,” says Wang. “He’s very different from other political personalities, … from the usual stereotypes of a political personality.
“The main point is that many youngsters admire Ko’s style of doing things and personal charisma.”
For many voters too, it is domestic issues that weigh on their minds, especially with Taiwan’s sluggish economy. They are faced with an increase in the cost of living, for example.
While inflation in Taiwan is by global standards relatively low, the 2.95 per cent hike in prices in 2022 was the highest on the island since 2008. More recently, prices rose 3.05 per cent in October, a 15-month high.
“The government tried to manage … the price (of) public utilities (as) most of the public utility companies are state-owned,” notes Kristy Hsu, the director of the Taiwan Asean Studies Centre at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research.
“We’ve frozen, for example, the electricity price, gasoline price, and … that helped stabilise the prices.”
Source: CNA
