Although the legally defined power of the vice president is to act as a “stand-in” for the president, during election campaigns, a vice presidential candidate serves to complement the presidential candidate. In the case of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and her running mate, Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), this complementarity is very clear: Tsai has a strong academic background, Su has strong grassroots connections; Tsai has urban appeal, Su has rural appeal; Tsai hails from Taipei, Su is from Greater Taichung; Tsai is a woman, Su a man; Tsai focuses on diplomacy, cross-strait, economic and trade issues, while Su concentrates on domestic policy and agriculture.
This makes the pair a good match. Despite that, quite a few people who would have wanted Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) as Tsai’s running mate were a bit disappointed with her choice. They felt that Su Tseng-chang was doing well in the opinion polls, although Su himself had said that he felt he would not add much to Tsai’s chances of winning. But does he feel that Su Jia-chyuan will boost Tsai’s chances? What is he playing at?
It is probably what he has been saying — that he plans to be one of 18 legislators at large and work for legislative reform. Although this issue has yet to gather momentum, when it does, it is likely to have a strong effect.
It is not just the vice presidential candidate that can complement a presidential candidate. President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his running mate, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), do not seem to complement each other, but by combining the presidential and legislative polls next year, it could give rise to a mutually beneficial relationship between Ma and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative candidates’ vote captains.
KMT legislative candidates in the south have rcently been avoiding putting up election posters showing them together with Ma, fearing that Ma would drag them down. As for the DPP, the reverse is true: Because the party thinks little of vote captains, the presidential candidate is more beneficial to the legislative candidates than the other way round. Given that Ma needs the party’s legislative candidates more than they need him, combining the elections will be helpful to the KMT’s presidential ticket.
However, if the DPP’s legislative candidates could focus their energy on “winning an absolute legislative majority and pushing legislative reform,” this would complement Tsai’s 10-year policy guidelines and create a two-pronged election strategy. Because such an approach would make use of the public’s dissatisfaction with the performance of the legislature and demands for legislative reform, it could be used to attack the KMT and counter the effect of its vote captain. Aiming for an absolute legislative majority and the presidential seat can also consolidate supporters, and calls for legislative reform can attract the support of middle-class voters who want to improve the quality of the legislature.
In the five special municipality elections, the DPP for the first time drew level overall with the KMT in the various city councils. After the implementation of the “single-district, two-vote system” for legislative polls, the DPP has won nine of the 11 legislative by-elections that have taken place since 2009. Clearly, it is not mere fantasy to think that the DPP could win an absolute legislative majority.
Nongovernmental organizations, academic circles and private think tanks are ready to start working for legislative reform. If the DPP could follow suit, the popular trio of Tsai, Su Jia-chyuan and Su Tseng-chang could very well be elected to the positions where they could make their most valuable contributions.
Lin Cho-shui is a former Democratic Progressive Party legislator.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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