Yesterday's mayoral elections in Taipei and Kaohsiung saw the incumbents -- Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) -- succeed in their re-election bids, thereby maintaining the current balance of power between the pan-blue and pan-green camps.
During the campaign period, many people defined the elections as a "test of confidence" in the DPP government, or a preliminary battle for the "second transition of political power."Many expected that the President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) administration would flunk, but yesterday's results were rather balanced.
The pan-blue camp's Ma saw significant gains in Taipei, beating the pan-green camp's Lee Ying-yuan (
Over-interpretation of the results are uncalled for. After all, these are local elections that have nothing to do with central government operations. The elections can therefore not be viewed as a "midterm" election for the central government, much less a second transition of political power. The ruling DPP lost the Taipei race but won in Kaohsiung.
The DPP's candidate, Lee, joined the race rather hastily and won far fewer votes than Chen did in 1998, but this should be attributed to personal factors. It is improper to view the results as a sign that the public mistrusts the DPP.
The elections will be followed by a reshuffle in the balance of power within the two camps.
The pan-green camp cooperated very well in the campaign, with the TSU's spiritual leader -- former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) -- stumping for the DPP's Lee Ying-yuan and Hsieh many times.
This cooperation will be extended to the 2004 presidential election. Ma's victory has made him the pan-blue camp's top celebrity in the election, but Ma would probably not try to rob KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) of his presidential candidacy in light of their teacher-student relationship.
Besides, the electorate may find it hard to accept a statement from Ma declaring his intent to run for president soon after he has won the Taipei mayorship. Ma is therefore unlikely to run for president. Instead, he will campaign for Lien and help him tackle Chen and PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜).
The PFP did not play much of a supportive role in the mayoral elections, but the party nominated large numbers of candidates for the city council elections in an attempt to crowd the KMT and New Party out of the pan-blue support base. The PFP's behavior has created misgivings within the other two parties.
On the other hand, the PFP is unhappy about Ma's refusal to stump for the PFP's city council candidates. In the final stage of the election campaign, Soong set a new precedent unheard of in the democratic world -- he knelt down on stage and begged the crowd to vote for the KMT's mayoral candidates.
But Ma was already way ahead of his DPP rival and Soong's kneeling act did not increase Ma's chances very much. Instead, it stirred suspicions that Soong was in fact trying to curb Ma's performance from soaring too high -- thereby threatening Soong's presidential ambitions -- or that he was trying to claim some credit for use in the future.
The election is now over. This newspaper congratulates the winners -- despite the political muckraking between candidates, which we hope will be rectified in future elections. The winners should remember their election promises and the responsibilities entrusted to them by the electorate -- and work to improve the lives of the people.
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
On a quiet lane in Taipei’s central Daan District (大安), an otherwise unremarkable high-rise is marked by a police guard and a tawdry A4 printout from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicating an “embassy area.” Keen observers would see the emblem of the Holy See, one of Taiwan’s 12 so-called “diplomatic allies.” Unlike Taipei’s other embassies and quasi-consulates, no national flag flies there, nor is there a plaque indicating what country’s embassy this is. Visitors hoping to sign a condolence book for the late Pope Francis would instead have to visit the Italian Trade Office, adjacent to Taipei 101. The death of
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
As the highest elected official in the nation’s capital, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) is the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) candidate-in-waiting for a presidential bid. With the exception of Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), Chiang is the most likely KMT figure to take over the mantle of the party leadership. All the other usual suspects, from Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) to New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) to KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) have already been rejected at the ballot box. Given such high expectations, Chiang should be demonstrating resolve, calm-headedness and political wisdom in how he faces tough
RSS