Although the results of last Saturday's poll meant the political parties maintained their positions in Taipei and Kaohsiung, Democratic Progressive Party Taipei mayoral candidate Frank Hsieh (
If the mayoral elections in Taipei and Kaohsiung were considered a warm-up for the presidential race in early 2008, then DPP Kaohsiung candidate Chen Chu's (
The development has also made the KMT understand how long the journey will be to 2008. As KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
First, although the KMT secured Taipei and came very close to winning in Kaohsiung, the victory was but minor when looking at the results from the perspective of historical voter patterns. That is, although KMT Taipei mayoral candidate Hau Lung-bin (
In this regard, many senior KMT politicians may now begin to doubt Ma's ability to direct election campaigns. Doubts may also surface about the alleged misuse of his special mayoral allowance. These could undermine the legitimacy of Ma's leadership, considering the constant rumors about former KMT chairman Lien Chan (
Second, from Dec. 20 until early 2008, Ma will serve only as KMT chairman. After leaving his post as mayor, he will have less administrative resources at his disposal and attract less media attention. In addition, after Ma steps down as mayor, his close aides at Taipei City Hall will have to be reassigned to KMT headquarters. This process could easily lead to conflict between Ma's loyalists from the city government and other KMT staff. In short, without administrative resources, Ma's prestige will diminish to a certain extent. The amount of resources will dictate the extent of his influence and political power.
Third, serving as a full-time party chairman, Ma will have to handle follow-up issues related to the KMT's party assets, prompt payment of salaries, severance pay and pensions, with the DPP in constant pursuit.
If the People First Party (PFP), which suffered a crushing defeat in the elections, decides to support the pan-green camp proposal regarding the handling of the KMT's party assets, then the KMT will also face an internal storm that could bring the party to the verge of disintegration.
Fourth, Ma will have to deal with the party's nominations for next year's legislative elections.
With the reduced number of legislative seats and the redistricting of electoral constituencies, an inability to reach consensus on legislative nominations could easily lead to a conflict among incumbent lawmakers or dissatisfaction among new talent planning to run.
Regardless of whether or not PFP lawmakers will return to the KMT, it will be difficult to handle the decreasing number of electoral districts, and Ma's leadership and prestige will once again be challenged.
Apart from these issues, the pan-blue heads of local governments are also rising to prominence. Taipei mayor-elect Hau, Taoyuan County Commissioner Chu Li-lun (
In fact, if Ma wants to overcome these potential obstacles, he and his party should stop obstructing policies or bills proposed by the pan-green camp. Signs of resentment among centrist and light-green voters with the pan-blue camp's filibustering tactics in the legislature can already be seen in the outcome of last week's mayoral elections.
Showing respect for Lien and promoting Wang constitute Ma's only political choice if he wants to be able to deal with all internal party issues.
Chen Chao-chien is an assistant professor in the department of public affairs at Ming Chuan University.
Translated by Daniel Cheng
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