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Editorial: Taiwan weary of elections

Yesterday, Taiwan held elections for county, township and city councilors and local government heads. Except in Kinmen County, the turnout for these elections was an all-time low, about 40 percent in some districts. The indifference of the electorate seems baffling in light of the competitiveness of these elections.

Perhaps the public was distracted by lottery fever. But if people prefer turning to the gods to find lucky lottery numbers to improve their lives rather than placing their hopes in politicians, the politicians are in serious trouble.

Of course, the elections yesterday were only local elections. With so many candidates running for so many seats in so many provincial counties, townships and cities, the public's attention becomes diluted and dispersed. But the blase attitude is still puzzling, especially with so many high-profile figures running, many of whom were defeated in the Dec. 1 elections for the Legislative Yuan.

Maybe people are simply weary, worn out and tired of elections. For a small island country with a high population density, Taiwan has a lot of elections with only small breaks in between. By the end of this year, Taiwan will have had four elections in less than three years: the 2000 presidential election, the legislative elections on Dec. 1 last year, the local elections yesterday, and then the upcoming Taipei and Kaohsiung mayoral elections.

These local elections are particularly susceptible to vote-buying. With so many candidates, it is very difficult to crack down on this illegal practice. As the size of each electoral district is small, vote-buying can easily bring a candidate that few hundred, or even few dozen, votes needed to win. The forms of vote-buying for yesterday's election ranged from paying for voters' traffic tickets or giving voters toilets for their new houses, to giving voters money disguised as lottery prizes, making investigation extremely difficult. Prosecutors are investigating 3,400 cases of alleged vote-buying.

Hopefully, the government's plan to abolish elections for local government heads will materialize, meaning yesterday's elections will be the last for provincial county, township and city heads. The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) had proposed a change in the law to abolish such elections. Unfortunately, the opposition, in particular the KMT, had blocked this move, because it has traditionally used these local elections to buy off and secure its ties with local factions and politicians.

From the beginning, the KMT had adopted an ambitious strategy of nominating a large number of candidates. For the local council elections, the KMT nominated 609 candidates, compared with 300 for the DPP. In the elections for local government heads, the KMT nominated 304 candidates, and the DPP 128. The strategy worked. KMT candidates won in 194 elections for local government heads, with DPP candidates winning only 28. And the KMT won more than 383 seats on the local councils, compared with 146 for the DPP.

After the election results came out, KMT Secretary-General Lin Fong-cheng (林豐正) said the election results reflected the "most up-to-date popular will." However, in such grass-roots elections, local factions typically play a much more important role than political parties. Voters usually vote based on their affiliations and personal ties with local faction members. So, the KMT's so-called "victory" reflects its strong footing in the grass-roots factions, rather voters' support for the KMT. In any event, the DPP should not underestimate the influence that the KMT's local factions may play in the next presidential election.
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