The political polarization of Taiwan increased in the wake of yester-day's local elections, as the north and south of the nation gravitated toward the KMT and DPP respectively. The leadership of 12 out of 23 districts will change in late December when newly elected local chiefs are inaugurated.
The DPP, which suffered a degree of setback in the elections, will be influential in southern Taiwan, while the KMT will be dominant in the north.
Meanwhile, two remote counties on isolated islands will be controlled by the People First Party (PFP) and New Party.
PHOTO: HU WEI-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
A blue north
The DPP, which had ruled 12 of 23 contested districts since 1997, won only nine. The KMT, which previously controlled eight counties, was victorious in nine cities and counties yesterday. Independent candidates and the PFP captured two districts each, while the New Party only took Kinmen County.
In northern Taiwan, the KMT seized leadership from the DPP in six districts, including Keelung City, Taoyuan County, Hsinchu City, Hsinchu County, Taichung City and Taichung County.
Su Yeong-chin (蘇永欽), a professor of constitutional law at National Chengchi University, said yesterday during a radio show that with two major political powers -- one in the north and the other in the south -- the scene has been set for bitter future political confrontations.
In Keelung City, Hsu Tsai-li (許財利) gained the support of 58 percent of voters, beating incumbent DPP mayor Lee Chin-yung (李進勇).
In Taoyuan County, KMT nominee Chu Li-luan (朱立倫) won support from more than 55 percent of residents, defeating the DPP's Perng Shaw-jiin (彭紹瑾).
In Taichung City, almost half of the voters chose the KMT's Jason Hu (胡志強), a former foreign affairs minister. Analysts said the DPP's failure in Taichung City could be attributed to competition between the DPP's Michael Tsai (蔡明憲) and incumbent Taichung City mayor, independent Chang Wen-ying (張溫鷹). Tsai could have lost DPP voter support because Chang is a former DPP member, according to analysts.
Political watchers said the DPP's failure to deal with pressing economic issues had lost the party the support of many of its voters -- citing the poor DPP showing in Taichung County and Hsinchu City as examples.
Incumbent Taichung County Commissioner Liao Yung-lai (廖永來) yesterday handed the leadership over to the KMT's Huang Chung-sheng (黃仲生). Analysts said Liao's failure could be partly attributed to his opposition to a NT$50 billion investment proposal by the Bayer Group -- a Germany healthcare and chemicals group -- to establish operations in Taichung County in 1997. KMT officials said the Bayer setback had repercussions in that other European companies that had shown interest in expanding their operations in Taiwan were now reluctant to do so. "I'll try to help Taichung County residents, drawing on my experience in financial and business management," the victorious Huang said yesterday.
In Hsinchu City, Mayor Tsai Jen-chien (蔡仁堅) has experienced waning confidence among local residents after his failure last year to deal with environmental protection controversies linked to companies within the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park.
One of future Hsinchu mayor Lin Jung-chien's (林政則) primary political goals is to promote a merger of the administrations of Hsinchu City and the industrial park. Director-general of the Science-based Industrial Park Administration's (SIPA) James Lee (李界木) said yesterday that the policy would be completely supported by the park.
A Greener South
From Lin Tseng-nan's (林宗男) victory in central Taiwan's Nantou County (南投) to the southern tip of the island, the DPP racked up victories in all seats except Taichung City and County and Yunlin County.
In Chiayi County and Changhua County, Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) and Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) respectively seized leadership from the KMT.
DPP candidates Hsu Tien-tsai (許添財), Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智), Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興) and Su Chia-chuan (蘇嘉全) respectively took Tainan City, Tainan County, Kaohsiung County and Pingtung County.
Analysts said that the DPP's sweeping victory in southern Taiwan could be attributed to a close-knit relationship between local factions and the DPP-led central government. They said local factions which had previously cooperated with the former KMT government may have changed allegiance and thrown their support behind the new government.
In addition, the DPP's Su Chen-chang (蘇貞昌) and Liu Shou-cheng (劉守成) successfully defended the party's leadership of Taipei County in the north and Ilan County in the east.
The PFP, which participated in local elections for the first time, occupies two remote counties previously held by the KMT. Legislator Hsu Ching-yuan (徐慶元) took Taitung County, previously held by the KMT, while Chen Hsueh-sheng (陳雪生) swept to victory in Lienchiang County (連江縣) -- the official administrative title for the Matsu archipelago (馬祖).
A victory in Kinmen County was the New Party's only cause for joy in yesterday's elections. New Party legislator Lee Chu-feng (李炷烽) gained the largest number of votes ever, at 14,148, in the history of local elections for commissioner in Kinmen.
"Our victory in Kinmen shows the results of our long-term devotion to the county," said New Party Secretary-General Lee Bin-nan (
"Kinmen voters have demonstrated their new vision in this election. It's time for some fresh air around here so we can make headway on improving stale cross-strait relations," Kinmen County commissioner-elect Lee said yesterday.
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