No sparks flying in Taipei race

Although this year's Taipei mayoral election reaches its climax in just five days, the atmosphere remains lukewarm in comparison to that of the 1998 contest.

Unlike the mayoral election four years ago, this time around, a lukewarm atmosphere lingers despite daily attacks launched by DPP contender Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) against KMT incumbent Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) governance record and a street procession led by none other than President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and other top-level Cabinet officials. It is a very rare occasion for the nation's top leaders to take to the streets together for a cause.

Chin Heng-wei (金恆煒), editor-in-chief of Contemporary Monthly magazine, said that several reasons have contributed to the lack of interest in the election.

For starters, Chin said, the lukewarm atmosphere of this year's election can be attributed to the fact that the mayor seat is also up for grabs in Kaohsiung City. In fact, DPP incumbent Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) is faced with a total of four other contenders. This added media attention detracts from the Taipei contest.

"Not being in the place of opposition party, the DPP's negative campaigning, to a certain degree, is not as effective as it used to be," Chin said.

Chin pointed out that the rather stand-offish electoral atmosphere in the Taipei mayoral campaign can be attributed to apparent "downplaying" by Ma's camp, Chin said.

"The less intense the electoral atmosphere becomes, the more advantageous it is as far as Ma Ying-jeou's re-election bid is concerned," Chin told the Taipei Times.

A heated electoral battle stimulates voters to reconsider "which of the candidates best deserves their votes," he said.

Keeping it calm

The Ma camp is aware of the current state of the electoral atmosphere in Taipei, and has successfully managed to keep things toned down, thus forcing Lee to struggle, Chin said.

Although Lee has proposed quite a few innovative ideas for Taipei City, they seem not to have been received warmly by Taipei citizens because, Chin said, they do not expect much of their municipal facilities.

"If Taipei citizens had been demanding and placing importance on city construction, Ma wouldn't have beaten Chen Shui-bian [in 1998], who already had experience and political achievement in Taipei," Chin said.

Image of an idol

"One of the reasons that Ma continues to enjoy a lead in polls despite the number of visionary proposals presented by Lee is that Taipei citizens demand no municipal construction. They want a spokesperson instead," he said.

"Taipei citizens view Ma in a favorable light. He practices moderate politics and maintains an idol-like image," Chin said.

Chin pointed out that high viewer ratings of the two televised debates indicate that underneath the seemingly calm electoral atmosphere, most Taipei citizens still do care about the election.

Chiu Hei-yuan (瞿海源), a sociology professor at National Taiwan University and a member of the green-leaning Taiwan Society, believes that the tepid electoral atmosphere in Taipei partially stems from the overall political climate in Taiwan.

"The DPP won the legislative election last December because voters wanted to give it another chance," Chiu said.

"However, with on-going social problems remaining unsolved, Taiwan's sluggish economy and the like, many voters, which include those in the middle range and even some DPP die-hards, have become disheartened with the DPP administration," Chiu added.