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TAIPEI: Taiwan's two presidential candidates have squared off in their first televised debate with minimal changes to their support level.
According to a series of polls by the Taiwanese media, the Kuomintang's Ma Ying-jeou is still leading his rival Mr Frank Hsieh from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, by about 20 per cent.
The Taiwan media was out in force to see how the two presidential candidates fared in their first televised debate.
Organisers assembled 20 members of the public to give them a chance to examine their potential leaders up close.
The debate started with a friendly hand-shake between the opposition Kuomintang's Ma Ying-jeou and Mr Frank Hsieh from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.
The mood was largely subdued for the first couple of hours with the two men giving measured responses.
But as the debate progressed, sparks began to fly.
DPP Presidential candidate, Frank Hsieh, said: "When you were indicted, you said it's mud-slinging. When others are indicted, you say the DPP is corrupt. This is double standard."
KMT Presidential candidate, Ma Ying-jeou, replied: “During my term as Taipei City Mayor, none of my staff were indicted. But many officials from the DPP central government, and your Kaohsiung mayoral office were indicted."
For all the fireworks, the latest polls show that voters are largely unmoved, regardless of how each man performed.
According to a poll by cable news station TVBS, 43 per cent of the respondents said Mr Ma did better, while 28 per cent favoured Mr Hsieh.
The support level for the two was down slightly, with Mr Ma registering a four percent drop from 53 to 49 per cent.
Meanwhile, Mr Hsieh saw his support level sliding two points to 29 per cent.
A China Daily poll on the other hand, showed marginal increases for the two candidates.
Dr Alex Huang from Tamkang University, said: "I think Ma Ying-jeou is playing by the books. He is telling people what he thinks and what he will do. Frank Hsieh is emphasizing that Ma Ying-jeou is a bad person, is no good. Frank Hsieh did not elaborate enough on what he'll do as president."
Political commentators have predicted that the debate will have minimal impact on the support level of the two candidates, and this has been reflected in the latest opinion polls.
The general consensus in Taipei is the fundamental support from the two camps will remain largely unchanged up to polling day, and the final results of the presidential race, will be decided by the neutral voters.
And that's where the two men are expected to focus their campaign over the coming weeks. -CNA/vm
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