Pan-green parties target young voters with online games

Targeting young voters and hoping to arouse their interest in politics, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday both launched Internet games as a means of connecting with the younger generation ahead of the legislative elections.

The DPP yesterday released two games designed to educate young people on arms procurement and the merits of the pan-green camp's victory in the legislative elections.

"We hope these Internet games may arouse young voters' interest in the issues that they might not pay much attention through a medium they are familiar with," DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) said yesterday. "We want to trigger young voters' interest in politics and the significance of national affairs."

One game is entitled "arms procurement can ensure safety," in which the weapons in the game can be upgraded from slingshots, to rifles and later tanks as the player gains more money, symbolizing that only with a sufficient budget can the country effectively protect people from an enemy attack.

The other game is named as "the pan-green camp's legislative majority wins happiness," in which a video character resembling an Olympic taekwondo gold medalist competes with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰), People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) and Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in removing the KMT's stolen assets.

People can download both games from the DPP's website, Lee said.

Meanwhile, after the news conference, DPP Deputy Secretary-General Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) defended President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) recent headline-grabbing remarks at campaign rallies, saying that the president's intention is to eliminate the KMT's influence from the country.

"President Chen will wrap up his recent statements with a satisfactory conclusion for all the people on the weekend," Chung said, declining to reveal what the president will say.

The TSU yesterday also announced it will soon release an Internet game for people who cannot participate in a large-scale parade scheduled for Dec. 5, so they can experience the parade virtually as well, according to Lee Yen-hui (李妍慧), a Taiwan Solidarity Union City Councilwoman. But the game is still being developed, she said.

Lee Yen-hui, who is 28, said the TSU is now aiming to increase turnout among young voters and change voters' impressions that the TSU is a political party supported only by old people.

"The TSU has nominated many young candidates like me in the legislative elections, which shows the TSU plans to develop the younger generation and avoid becoming disconnected with the young people's world," Lee Yen-hui said.