Just over a month has passed since the local government elections and political circles have already plunged into heated debate of December's Taipei mayoral election.
A relatively quiet pan-green camp, in which so far only former Democratic Progressive Party legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄) has expressed his intention to run for the position, pales into comparison with the political warfare that is already brewing within the pan-blue camp, as several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members are busy staking their claim to the party's nomination while the People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) also looks likely to join the race.
contenders
So far, potential pan-blue runners besides Soong include KMT Legislator John Chiang (
The fierce rivalry among pan-blue alliance members, coupled with Ou's decision not to join the race, may make it more difficult for Taipei Mayor and KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to contain the power struggle within the camp and at the same time secure the resources he has built up during his administration.
The city's financial, administrative and personnel resources would be extremely beneficial should Ma become the KMT's candidate in the 2008 presidential election.
new mechanism
But the year-end mayoral election, political analysts said, may also provide an excellent opportunity for Ma to establish a new and solid nomination mechanism for the party.
"What Ma should do now is not get involved. He should take the chance to establish a nomination mechanism and allow the primaries to decide the final candidate," said Emile Sheng (盛治仁), a professor of political science at Soochow University.
The KMT already has an existing nomination mechanism and primaries with which to choose party candidates. The mechanism, however, has long been ignored as top officials often appoint their preferred candidates.
And as Ma is trying to reshape the KMT's image, Sheng said, there should not be a preferred successor. The continuity of his policies or ideas should not be an issue, either.
Wang Yeh-li (王業立), a political science professor at Tunghai University, agreed that the establishment of a new nomination mechanism for interested party members to follow is what the KMT really needs.
"I think voters in Taipei will accept any candidate as long as he or she goes through a fair nomination mechanism," he told the Taipei Times.
Political critic Liao Da-chi (廖達琪) of National Chungshan University, on the other hand, said a general look at the candidates who have already put their names forward highlighted the lack of promising talent in the pan-blue camp.
"Judging from the ages and images of the possible contenders, I think the camp needs to cultivate another political star in addition to Ma," she said.
While the party has not yet revealed the details of its nomination mechanism for the Taipei and Kaohsiung mayoral and city councilor elections, it announced a "sunrise plan" last Saturday that is meant to tighten the regulations for the party's primary elections.
Under the plan, the party will require candidates to have held KMT membership for at least four months before they can run in elections for public posts as KMT candidates.
The announcement was seen as a major factor behind the decision of PFP Legislator Diane Lee (李慶安), who expressed her interest in running for Taipei Mayor, and Taipei City Councilor Wang Hsin-yi (王欣儀)to defect to the KMT, with more PFP members expected to follow Lee's path in order to run as KMT candidates in the year-end race.
diminishing influence
While he can't help but notice the PFP's diminishing influence on the nation's political stage, Soong has refused to put an end to his party, and is once again trying to make a political comeback by sounding out opinions to his joining the Taipei mayoral race.
Soong claimed last week that in terms of capability and political background, no other pan-blue hopefuls can beat him.
Although Soong's ambition and intentions are well understood, critics have said his political career could still come to an end whether he decides to join the race or not.
next generation
"Even if he decides to run, pan-blue voters may think of him as veteran who is refusing to give the next generation a chance, and there is a chance that he could lose," Sheng said.
Rather than the mayoral election, Wang said, Soong should devote himself to fighting for more seats for PFP city councilors if he doesn't want to see any more of his party's members leave.
"Top officials in the KMT and PFP should negotiate an integrated nomination mechanism for the city council elections," he said.
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