The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won a city each in the Taipei and Kaohsiung mayoral elections and also gained seats on the city councils.
The losers were the two smaller parties.
People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong's (
The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) was also crushed. It seems the two might be wiped out even before the new single member constituency electoral system is implemented in next year's legislative elections.
The heavy setback for the small parties was a result of their own miscalculations.
With the political scene already deadlocked by opposition between the pan-blue and pan-green camps, Soong's decision to challenge the KMT, the PFP's ideological twin, by running for Taipei mayor proved a tactical error.
No matter how experienced Soong may be, voters weren't willing to support him. If he hadn't caused trouble for the KMT during the election, the PFP might still hold bargaining chips in its dealings with the KMT.
But now they've all vanished. Soong's departure leaves the PFP in disarray and without a leader, and the party may be quickly gobbled up through "cooperation" with the KMT.
Compared with Soong's mistake, the TSU's defeat came from an error of principle. The TSU's base is made up of hard-core green supporters most concerned with the overall interests of the green camp and Taiwan's future in the broader scheme of things.
That was why, during the height of the anti-President Chen Shui-bian (
Almost all political commentators who have supported the TSU failed to endorse its methods, even openly criticizing it.
Although pan-green supporters might have issues with the localized regime, they couldn't accept the pan-blue camp using the presidential recall motions to attack them, so it was unacceptable to the green base when the pan-blues donned their red shirts and adopted "anti-corruption" as a tool to depose Chen. The pan-green supporters had to come out to support their president and their hard-won localized regime.
During that time, the TSU and its leaders began to see the DPP as playing in the same league as the KMT, and even praised the third recall motion. The TSU's willingness to let the pan-green camp lose in both the north and south by taking votes from DPP candidate Chen Chu (
Politicians are responsible for taking the votes they have been entrusted with and doing their utmost to turn them into substantive policy. Without their efforts, the votes amount to nothing.
When a political party faces a critical moment to choose between right and wrong, ignoring the ideology of its core voters and disregarding the calls of the media and public opinion is tantamount to suicide. And there won't be much room left for smaller parties to survive when the number of legislative seats is halved next year.
Because of these problems, the TSU and the PFP are losing their influence and more clearly moving Taiwan towards a two-party system. In the grand scheme of things, this isn't a bad thing for Taiwanese politics.
Cao Changqing is a writer based in the US.
Translated by Marc Langer
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