Presidential election 2008: Losing Ticket: DPP supporters react to Frank Hsieh's defeat

One of Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's campaign workers in Taichung County smokes a cigarette after removing the chairs and TV sets that had been provided so supporters could watch the vote count after yesterday's presidential election. PHOTO: HSIEH FUNG-CHIU, TAIPEI TIMES

Supporters of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) gathered outside the party's campaign headquarters in Taipei yesterday afternoon and watched as vote tallies were displayed on television screens.

Some supporters broke down in tears when they saw the disappointing results.

A Taiwanese woman surnamed Lin, who lives in Japan, said she cried when she realized that the DPP was going to lose the election.

"I am really upset," she said. "People in Taiwan seem to only care about short-term interests and some are willing to sell themselves for that."

Lin said she was concerned about Taiwan's future, and especially the plight of the middle and working class.

CHINA THREAT

"Once [the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)] is in power, it will allow Chinese laborers to come and take all the jobs," she said.

Twenty-one-year-old Miss Huang and 28-year-old Miss Tsai, both volunteer DPP campaign workers, were in tears. Given the result of the 2004 election, they said they had not expected the margin of defeat to be so great.

The mother of Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tien Chiu-chin, right, and a friend both cry at a post-election event following Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's election loss yesterday. PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES

Huang said that voters did not understand the serious consequences of a single party controlling both the presidential office and the legislature. She said she was concerned that the nation could return to something like the White Terror era.

Tsai said she did not want Taiwan to become a second Tibet.

Devin Huang (黃東漢), a college student from Taoyuan, said the DPP had fought bravely with limited resources against a strong rival.

He also said that a majority of the voters did not dislike the DPP, but were using the election as an opportunity to express their dissatisfaction with President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

ECONOMY

Regarding his expectations for president-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Devin Huang said Ma should not rely solely on China to boost Taiwan's economy.

He added that it was unfair that some overseas Taiwanese got to fly in to vote and leave the next day. Devin Huang said the electoral system should be overhauled.

A 65-year-old retired man surnamed Shih said he did not feel particularly sad about the result of the election, although he had only expected the KMT to win by a margin of between 3 and 5 percentage points.

"They [the KMT] surely have plenty of money to buy votes," he said.

Shih also said that neither of the presidential candidates could solve the China problem, adding that a resolution depended on China itself.