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DPP turns focus to women voters

DPP workers perform at a campaign event held by the party's department of women's development yesterday. PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES

Lamenting the muted response of women to this year's election campaign, the DPP yesterday sought to appeal to the "peaceful nature" of women to gain their support in the Dec. 1 legislative election.

"The female population, which by nature loves peace, remains inactive simply because they are frustrated by the inconclusive spats between politicians, which conflict with their preference for solutions to problems by means of communication and negotiation," said Ho Bih-jen (何碧珍), director of the DPP's department of women's development, while calling for women's votes.

The party unveiled at a press conference yesterday a Taiwanese rap song written to attract female voters.

It blames opposition lawmakers for the inefficiency of the Legislative Yuan and calls on women to stand up and vote for DPP candidates to help end the chaos in the legislature.

"Women suffer because only a tiny portion -- totaling some NT$2.2 billion -- of the national budget is allocated for social security and children's education due to the opposition parties' boycott of the DPP," Ho said.

"The boycott prevents them from pursuing self-fulfillment rather than continuing to play the role of the major caretaker in the family."

She encouraged women who wish to develop their careers in a stable environment to vote for DPP legislative candidates to help the party gain full control in the Legislative Yuan.

Jeff Wu (吳芳銘), CEO of Decision Making Research (決策調查中心), a polling organization, said that the DPP had a "masculine image" resulting from its past aggressive protests against the former KMT government, which he said affects the party's ability to attract female voters.

"The support of men and women for moderate DPP candidates is more likely to be even, but only about 30 percent of votes for radical DPP candidates will come from females," Wu said.

He added, however, that the DPP's efforts to change its image since it became the ruling party might have made it more attractive to women.

As far as the opposition parties are concerned, Wu said that almost half of the People First Party's (PFP) votes would come from women, who are generally attracted by party leader James Soong's (宋楚瑜) charisma. The KMT's male voters will outnumber females, but less so than in the case of the DPP.

Chen Jun-lin (陳俊麟), director of the survey center at the Public Opinion Research Foundation (財團法人民意調查中心), questioned surveys that show the PFP enjoys the most support among women, saying, "The PFP does not necessarily enjoy the largest share of votes from women."

He explained that most PFP supporters are urban residents who want to express themselves. "Yet many older female DPP supporters in the countryside are used to remaining low-key, even in opinion polls, due to the party's history of being oppressed as an opposition party under martial law."

He agreed that the DPP's history would affect the party's support among women. He also said that many women might not openly support the KMT in surveys because vote-buying attracts their votes.
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