The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) landslide victory in Saturday’s nine-in-one elections appears to owe much to Kaohsiung mayor-elect Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), whose meteoric rise gave the party momentum and connected frustrated voters eager to punish the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
Prior to the elections, the KMT said that winning 1.5 times the number of cities and counties the party had — six — and flipping Taichung would constitute victory, KMT Culture and Communications Committee deputy director-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said.
“The results are definitely beyond our expectations. Not only did we grab Taichung, we also took Kaohsiung, constituting a historic victory,” Hung said, referring to success in mayoral and commissioner elections in 15 out of 22 cities and counties, including three of the six special municipalities.
Photo: CNA
Hung said the effect of the so-called “Han tide” spread to other cities and counties, allowing the party’s candidates to secure victory in elections initially expected to be tight, such as Yunlin County and Taichung.
It also helped narrow the gap between the KMT and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in traditionally pan-green constituencies like Tainan and Pingtung County, he said.
In the 2014, then-Tainan mayor William Lai (賴清德) crushed his KMT rival, then-National University of Tainan president Huang Hsiu-shuang (黃秀霜), by a margin of 447,021 votes. That gap shrank to just 54,644 on Saturday.
Eric Yu (俞振華), an associate research fellow at National Chengchi University’s Election Study Center, also said that Han was a major factor in the KMT’s victory.
He was the glue for different groups of voters who were dissatisfied with the performance of Tsai’s administration, Yu said.
“Rather than thinking that Saturday’s results were because the KMT did a good job in opposition, it is more accurate to say they were due to voters’ overwhelmingly negative perception of the DPP,” Yu said.
Another key factor in the KMT’s wins was the DPP’s adoption of a “value-centered” campaign strategy, despite Tsai winning the 2016 presidential race by painting herself as a pragmatist and centrist, Yu said, citing the ruling party’s tactic of painting a vote for the KMT as a vote against democracy and reform.
The DPP administration’s effort to push for transitional justice was also a factor, as fewer than 5 percent of Taiwanese would list it as a priority in opinion polls, he said, adding that the public clearly places the economy above values.
Han’s call for love and tolerance, and his decision to act on those values by not suing talk show host Cheng Hung-yi (鄭弘儀) over allegedly false accusations against him spoke volumes, National Sun Yat-sen University professor of political science Liao Da-chi (廖達琪) said.
However, the KMT’s overwhelming victory should not be interpreted as voters being fond of the party, as it only reflected growing impatience with unsatisfactory leadership, Liao said.
While its momentum is likely to last until the 2020 presidential election, it is too early for the DPP to give up, Liao said.
“Voters want to see local elections revolve around matters of the economy, not independence or unification, while for presidential races, the focus is more on national sovereignty,” she said.
When asked about the 2020 race, Hung said that the KMT would try to produce a result like Saturday’s, but would keep a cautious attitude.
The KMT could begin its presidential nomination process next year, Hung said, adding, however, that its next goal was to win by-elections to be held within three months to fill vacancies left by five lawmakers who have resigned.
ENDORSING TAIWAN: Honduran presidential candidate Nasry Afura said that Honduras was ‘100 times better off’ when it was allied with Taipei The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it would explore the possibility of restoring diplomatic relations with Honduras based on the principle of maintaining national interests and dignity. The ministry made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions regarding an article titled: “Will Taiwan Regain a Diplomatic Ally?” published in The Diplomat on Saturday. The article said Honduras’ presidential election in November could offer Taiwan the chance to regain an ally, as multiple candidates have promoted re-establishing diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in March 2023 in favor of Beijing, but since switching its diplomatic recognition,
A fourth public debate was held today about restarting the recently decommissioned Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, ahead of a referendum on the controversial issue to be held in less than two weeks. A referendum on Aug. 23 is to ask voters if they agree that “the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant should continue operations upon approval by the competent authority and confirmation that there are no safety concerns.” Anyone over 18 years of age can vote in the referendum. The vote comes just three months after its final reactor shut down, officially making Taiwan nuclear-free. Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) represented
Scoot announced yesterday that starting in October, it would increase flights between Taipei and Japan’s Narita airport and Hokkaido, and between Singapore and Taipei. The low-cost airline, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, also said it would launch flights to Chiang Rai in Thailand, Okinawa and Tokyo’s Haneda airport between December and March next year. Flights between Singapore and Chiang Rai would begin on Jan. 1, with five flights per week operated by an Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, Scoot said. Flights between Singapore and Okinawa would begin on Dec. 15, with three flights per week operated by Airbus A320 aircraft, the airline said. Services between Singapore
‘ANGRY’: Forgetting the humiliations and sacrifices of ‘the people of the Republic of China’ experienced disqualified Lai from being president, Ma Ying-jeou said Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday criticized President William Lai (賴清德) over what he called “phrasing that downplayed Japan’s atrocities” against China during World War II. Ma made the remarks in a post on Facebook on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Ma said he was “angry and disappointed” that Lai described the anniversary as the end of World War II instead of a “victory in the war of resistance” — a reference to the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). The eight-year war was a part of World War II, in which Japan and the other Axis
RSS