Campaign Special ( The Victors ) - Analysts expect green win to give TSU a boost

The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) could grow and gain more legislative seats this year after the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) victory in the presi-dential election, academics and a TSU spokesman said yesterday.

The TSU said the green camp's victory yesterday meant that native consciousness was on the rise, and that with this rise, the TSU would grow and deliver an outstanding performance in the legislative election at the end of the year.

TSU Secretary General Lin Chih-chia (林志嘉) said that yesterday's election awoke a native consciousness in Taiwan, and that it was the first time the green camp had received more than 50 percent of the vote in a presidential election.

"As the green camp's territory expands, it is advantageous to both the DPP and the TSU. The TSU and the DPP will adopt a cooperative mode and split the territory between them," Lin said.

"Yesterday's election was also the victory of a nativizing consciousness, and it is becoming Taiwan's mainstream consciousness too. Someday we will get 70 to 80 percent of the ballot," he said.

TSU caucus whip Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘) was also confident that the TSU would make gains in the legislative election and declared the party's ambition to double its seats.

"The green camp improved from getting under 40 percent of the vote in 2000 to over 50 percent this year, and although the victory yesterday was only by a small margin, it is actually a great victory for the green camp," Chen said.

"The pan-blue camp lost the election yesterday, and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is likely to split again like it did back in 2000. The pro-Taiwan politicians within the KMT might choose to defect to the TSU," he said.

"We aim to double our seats in the legislature in the election this year, and the rise of Taiwan's nativized consciousness is the TSU's best weapon in this endeavor," he said.

Ku Chung-hwa (顧忠華), a sociology professor at National Chengchi University, said it was likely that the TSU would gain more seats in the legislative election.

"The KMT is likely to split again, and since [former president] Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) is still leading the TSU, it is likely to court pro-Taiwan politicians in the KMT. The TSU may draw them in and use them as a base for their expansion," Ku said.

Ku also said that the TSU would likely attract more pro-independence elements from the DPP.

Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明), a sociologist at the Academia Sinica, predicted that the DPP would now move to occupy the political middle ground.

"The DPP, having won the election, will move to the center, with the TSU concentrating on the name-rectifying campaign," he said.

"The green camp's territory has expanded, and there is room now for the TSU's continued existence. I believe that both the DPP and the TSU will gain more legislative seats this year," he said.