The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) may be starting to feel that it has a chance of winning the 2012 presidential election, but widely varying ideas have been floated as to how it could reach that goal. The only thing it can agree on is that winning the upcoming elections for the five special municipalities is a prerequisite. Does this mean that the party should give up on the 2012 presidential election if it does not do well in the municipal elections?
The seemingly contradictory view that if a party wins all direct municipality elections it will find it difficult to do well in presidential elections has been proven on a number of occasions over the past decade. In 2008, Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) won a landslide victory in the presidential election, convincing pessimists that the DPP would not be able to return to power for another 20 years. Everyone then thought the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would make a clean sweep in the following mayoral and county commissioner elections. Instead, the party not only lost votes in those elections, it was also roundly defeated in subsequent legislative by-elections.
Further back, the KMT stole the show in the 2001 mayoral and county commissioner elections, but then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was still re-elected in the 2004 presidential elections. However, after this, the DPP lost all the way up until 2008.
One can therefore say that total victory in municipality elections does not guarantee victory in presidential elections. It could even mean that if the DPP wins a majority of the municipal elections, thereby increasing its power, voters could begin to feel that the KMT needs to stay in office to counterbalance the DPP’s increased power.
Today, however, the government has not performed well, while the DPP has regained some self-confidence and has had ample time to consolidate its position. This suggests that the DPP should make three principles clear to its supporters.
First, the party should explain that it has several plans for dealing with different outcomes in the municipality elections. Second, it should start holding national policy planning meetings and link Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) ideas for the party platform for the next 10 years to the municipal election platform.
Third, the party’s strongest members should stump for candidates in the municipality elections rather than run themselves. Only by declaring these three principles will the DPP act as a former ruling party with the ability to rule again.
If DPP members with the qualifications and gravitas to run for president want to take part in the special municipality elections, they should be serious about their candidacy and not think that if they lose, they can go and run for president later on. If these top candidates win the municipal elections, the DPP would have to field second-rate candidates for the presidency, making victory in 2012 all the more difficult to achieve.
If those candidates lose in the municipal elections, the party would be forced to repeat the 2008 presidential election campaign, when Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) ran for presidency after losing the 2008 Taipei City mayoral election, suffering ridicule and a great loss of credibility.
This is not to suggest that the DPP should lose the municipal elections, or that candidates for the municipal and presidential elections should be chosen from two separate groups. The municipal elections should serve as a platform to cultivate the next generation of DPP leaders. As for the presidential election, since the DPP now decides on candidates through public opinion polls, it should hurry to find the most suitable candidate so that everybody can support that candidate. This is the true meaning of unity.
Cheng Yun-peng is a former Democratic Progressive Party legislator.
TRANSLATED BY DREW CAMERON
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
The past few months have seen tremendous strides in India’s journey to develop a vibrant semiconductor and electronics ecosystem. The nation’s established prowess in information technology (IT) has earned it much-needed revenue and prestige across the globe. Now, through the convergence of engineering talent, supportive government policies, an expanding market and technologically adaptive entrepreneurship, India is striving to become part of global electronics and semiconductor supply chains. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vision of “Make in India” and “Design in India” has been the guiding force behind the government’s incentive schemes that span skilling, design, fabrication, assembly, testing and packaging, and
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
As former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrapped up his visit to the People’s Republic of China, he received his share of attention. Certainly, the trip must be seen within the full context of Ma’s life, that is, his eight-year presidency, the Sunflower movement and his failed Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, as well as his eight years as Taipei mayor with its posturing, accusations of money laundering, and ups and downs. Through all that, basic questions stand out: “What drives Ma? What is his end game?” Having observed and commented on Ma for decades, it is all ironically reminiscent of former US president Harry