The Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) are mulling an alliance to run coordinated campaigns for next year’s nine-in-one local elections and the 2020 legislative elections, sources said.
The two parties are also in talks about the possibility of the Green Party — the SDP’s long-standing ally — joining the alliance, SDP convener Fan Yun (范雲) said.
The SDP might also court other politically compatible parties, including the New Power Party, Free Taiwan Party and the Radical Flank to join the coalition, she said.
The alliance would allow members to coordinate efforts by endorsing allied candidates and pooling resources, thereby overcoming some of the limitations that smaller parties face with the single-district, two-vote electoral system used in legislative elections.
In use since 2008, with amendments, the system requires voters to cast two ballots — one for a legislative candidate representing the district and another party vote for apportioning legislators-at-large.
A party needs at least 3.5 percent of total party votes cast to obtain annual public subsidies of NT$50 per party vote and at least 5 percent to appoint members to legislator-at-large seats.
Those thresholds have made it more difficult for smaller parties to compete with established parties, because the latter have the advantages of public subsidies and the addition of legislator-at-large seats to their district representative tally.
The electoral system disadvantages smaller parties and causes a situation where not all votes have equal value, Fan said.
Until the SDP changes the electoral system, it must try to bring its political ideals and experience to the existing political structure, she said.
The best approach for smaller parties is to focus their efforts on the nine-in-one local elections, which do not use the “single district, two votes” system, she said.
“The SDP and TSU are localist and progressive,” Fan said. “By forming the Localist Progressive Alliance, we hope to give voters an alternative to the Democratic Progressive Party and the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT]. People will be able to check the ruling party from a localist standpoint. The SDP and the TSU will be able to coordinate their efforts across electoral districts and pool resources... Our primary goal is to gain three seats in the Taipei City Council and form a caucus.”
Former TSU legislator Chou Ni-an (周倪安) confirmed that the TSU has been holding preliminary talks with the SDP regarding the plan.
Under the terms of a tentative agreement, if the parties form an alliance, the TSU is to focus on the central and southern regions, or rural townships, and the SDP is to compete in the north, or urban districts, Chou said.
Because the SDP appeals mostly to young, independent voters and the TSU mainly to pro-Taiwan voters who are middle-aged or older, cooperation between the two pro-Taiwan parties is a possibility for the TSU, she said.
Forming an electoral alliance would enable the two parties to coordinate candidates and stump the campaign trail together, Chou said.
Mutual support could prove important for resource-strapped smaller parties, she said.
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