Winning favor key to gaining votes

Premier Tang Fei (唐飛) attended the general interpellation on June 2 after the KMT legislative caucus threatened to call for his resignation. Although they later softened their tone and asked President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to pay more attention to Tang's health, the damage to the KMT had already been done.

The KMT also lost a popularity contest to the People First Party (PFP, 親民黨), who realized that the public finds Tang's sick leave acceptable and that pushing too hard on the issue would only have invited strong public resentment. The PFP was rational in evaluating this issue. Under previous leadership, resistance and protests won the support of the people, who were overwhelmed by sorrow. But now sorrow no longer exercises such influence. Any irrational moves would only negatively impact the party's development.

learning to play

a new role

It is understandable that the KMT is having a difficult time adjusting to its new role as an opposition party. However, those who are truly wise do not confront failure emotionally. Instead, they calmly think about how to attain victory in the future.

Many causes contributed to the KMT's defeat: First, James Soong (宋楚瑜) used government resources to divide and conquer the KMT. Those who feared the threats put forth by the Chinese communists supported Soong, while those who opposed the communists supported Chen. Thereby, both Soong and Chen took away KMT candidate Lien Chan's (連戰) votes.

Additionally, the KMT administration became the target of many complaints from a disgruntled public. Also, Lien was ambiguous about his ideology and attitude toward corruption.

As far as ideology goes, Chen has consistently pursued the path of localization. Conversely, Soong seems to have paid lip service to localization, but has long played the part of spiritual leader to the anti-localization crowd.

At the beginning of campaigning, Lien was also recognized as a localization figure. However, the result of the election revealed that the anti-localization voters largely voted for Soong, while most localization supporters voted for Chen.

Some people accused Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) of supporting Chen in the election and blamed him for the KMT's defeat. This accusation is way off the mark. It was not until after the election that Lee expressed goodwill to Chen. When many anti-localization people pointed fingers at Lee, KMT members who thrived under Lee's wing kept silent and allowed the KMT old guard to insult Lee at will. It was Chen's supporters who defended Lee. Anyone in Lee's shoes would thereafter think of Chen as a friend.

Lien's failure to secure votes from the pro-localization crowd therefore had nothing to do with Lee. The problem was in the KMT old guard, who believed the only way to become a mainstream force in Taiwan's political arena is to "tackle Taiwanese with the Taiwanese" (以台制台). Lien fell prey to the KMT old guard even before the election. The old guard constantly expressed goodwill toward Lien. Once Lien gained favor among the old guard, they quickly demanded Lee step down as party chairman before the election in order to improve Lien's electoral chances. The move triggered resentment among people with a strong "Taiwan consciousness." They began to openly support Chen. The attempt to de-throne Lee obviously angered them and prompted their support of Chen. It was the turning point that triggered the "dump-save" (棄連保陳) effect. The KMT should avoid repeating this situation, if it wishes to become the ruling party again.