TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — With presidential and legislative elections just eight months away, Taiwanese voters are becoming less supportive of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party staying in power for another four years, according to a new poll.

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is reaching the end of her second and final term next year, with her vice president, DPP Chair Lai Ching-te (賴清德), running to succeed her in the Jan. 13, 2024 election. Despite Lai performing relatively well in most surveys, the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation (TPOF) found that 47.2% do not want the DPP to win the elections, with 41.7% happy about the ruling party’s chances.

TPOF Chair Ying-lung You (游盈隆) said the results indicated dissatisfaction with Tsai’s performance over the past seven years. He also found different levels of support for the DPP’s chances in 2024.

While younger people were usually regarded as more sympathetic to the ruling camp, the age group from 20 to 24 was evenly divided, with 42% hoping the DPP would win, and 42% preferring a defeat, he said.

The difference was even more marked with higher ages, with 34% of respondents from 25 to 34 hoping the DPP would win, and 46% wanting a change of government. From age 35 and up, more than half of the people said the DPP should not win the next election.

The TPOF also looked at regional preferences, and found opposition to the DPP highest in parts of north, central, and east Taiwan. The opposite was true only in New Taipei City and Kaohsiung City, with the two sides evenly balanced in most of the south, according to the poll results.

The TPOF’s You designed the opinion survey while Focus Survey Research conducted the poll May 8-9. They collected 1,076 valid responses with a margin of error of 3%.