The defection of People First Party (PFP) Legislator Chou Hsi-wei (
All products must have target markets or consumers in mind in order to be successful. The same is true with political parties. The difference is that what attracts supports is a party's ideology. A party's stance on cross-strait relations and the national identity issue have for all practical purposes become the sole criteria for their position on the political spectrum.
The PFP must make up its mind whether it wants to be more conservative, or more open and moderate than the KMT in order to differentiate itself.
It should not be forgotten that PFP Chairman James Soong's (
Upon the founding of the PFP, critics have questioned what Soong had to offer that was so different from the KMT. This is especially true after Lee Teng-hui (
Soong's political charisma rapidly declined in tandem with the rise of KMT Vice Chairman and Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
For a while, it seemed clear that the PFP had opted to place itself at the deep blue end of the political spectrum. It was a rather obvious choice, since Soong was once Taiwan's biggest Mainlander political star, and, having served as former president Chiang Ching-kuo's (
However, that tactic did not work too well. In last year's legislative elections, the PFP suffered a devastating defeat, losing 26 percent of the seats they held before the vote. There were only two choices left for the PFP, to either merge with the KMT or to cooperate with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and play the role of the key minority party in the legislature. This time around, Soong chose the latter. As a result, Soong faced and enormous backlash from the PFP's conservative support base.
Chou's defection has one simple explanation -- he wants to win the Taipei County commissioner seat, and this will not happen if he stays with the PFP. If both pan-blue parties nominate candidates for the race, it is likely that DPP nominee -- which at this point is expected to be former Council for Hakka Affairs Chairman Luo Wen-jia (
Further, since many long-time PFP supporters find Soong's meeting with Chen Shui-bian (
Chou's move to the KMT has also alarmed KMT Legislator Lee Chia-chin (
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