The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has convened regular meetings to discuss its recent victories in local elections and propose strategies for the nomination of candidates for the five year-end municipality elections and the 2012 presidential election.
The party is expected to adopt a “delaying tactic” and could be hesitant to bring the municipal elections to the level of the presidential election, making every effort to win them all.
As a former director of the DPP’s Department of Culture and Communications, I have the obligation to remind DPP leaders that they must avoid using talented members in the race for minor positions and, in so doing, sacrificing the main election for small gains.
In this past year’s elections, the main key to the DPP’s victories was President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) poor performance rather than local issues or the quality of the candidates. From a critic’s perspective, the party may have won back its loyal supporters, but failed to win swing voters — not even in the three legislative by-election wins on Jan. 9.
Therefore, looking to the presidential election, the DPP has merely regained its competitiveness, while the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) will make every effort to improve its performance.
The question of how to move “moderate” voters who are concerned with the nation’s future, or those who may be willing to change party allegiance, will therefore be of the utmost importance. For the KMT, the task would logically be Ma’s responsibility. For the DPP, it will be that of its presidential nominee.
Following the KMT’s series of defeats, Ma and KMT Secretary-General King Pu-tsung’s (金浦聰) team will likely not hesitate to cater to the needs of swing voters. As a matter of fact, the loss of trust of swing voters was the reason for the DPP’s miserable performance in the 2008 presidential election, which pitted it against Ma and King.
Will King’s appointment as KMT secretary-general work again? We cannot only look at the results of the Jan. 9 or Feb. 27 legislative by-elections. The Ma-King team should actively dispose of the party’s stolen assets and force the implementation the amended Organic Act of the Executive Yuan (行政院組織法) to streamline the government, which would help it accomplish a series of difficult reform tasks. If swing voters are not moved by these efforts, at least they cannot criticize them. This is where King’s strength lies.
Hence, if the DPP smells victory in the presidential election, it should not restrict itself to considering the party’s heavyweights and should be bold enough to abandon its wait-and-see attitude. As there are more qualified presidential candidates in the DPP than there are talented people willing to run in municipality elections, perhaps it should appoint a presidential candidate as soon as possible and use the three municipalities currently under KMT rule as a stage for the next generation of leaders. The local government head elections on Dec. 12 last year serve as a good example.
The DPP should also make major national policy directions its main weapon in the municipality election campaigns. It should not limit itself to candidates’ momentum, electoral history or internal tactics such as delaying factional struggles. If it does, after the year-end elections, the winners may be unable to run in the presidential election and vice versa. The party could also be in a predicament, as a winner would be unable to finish this term for the presidential race. Under such circumstances, how could the party possibly propose a blueprint for national development? The only outcome of using major talent in the battle for minor positions would be to suffer big losses for little gain.
Phoenix Cheng is a former DPP legislator.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
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