Independent Taipei mayoral hopeful Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) recent proposal for an “opposition alliance” to be formed ahead of the upcoming Taipei mayoral elections of course refers to a union between opposition parties — the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the New Party and the Green Party — which are, individually, all smaller than the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
However, the Taipei mayoral election is only a local election and Ko is not a member of the DPP.
Why, then, is it necessary to rally all the smaller parties for an election unrelated to party politics or issues of national identity? Apart from highlighting the clear focus on winning above all else, this also shows many of the problems implicit in Taiwan’s elections
In London in the late 1970s, as the economy was reeling from the effects of the 1979 oil crisis, the public, struggling to make ends meet, started to lose confidence in political parties.
The Labour Party, seeing an opportunity, proposed forming an alliance, too, only in this case it was not an alliance of small political parties, but of trade unions and labor groups: In other words, an alliance of civic society.
Their goal was to try and get people who felt apathetic toward mainstream party politics and elections engaged once again.
This alliance involved a change of policy orientation, with plans for the city different to those of the Conservative Party. The Conservatives had had grand ambitions for the creation of a financial district, embarking on the construction of Canary Wharf, somewhat similar to Taipei’s Xinyi district.
Investment and the number of companies interested in moving into the district, however, fell short of expectations after the construction was completed, and the London Docklands area, for a time, resembled a ghost town.
The Labour Party resolved to save the city from the flawed and failing urban planning policy and proposed more socially-oriented policies. For instance, due to the correlation of an economic recession and an increase in unemployment, domestic abuse was on the rise, and a Labour mayoral candidate proposed building large numbers of women’s shelters, refuges for the victims of domestic violence, an idea that was warmly received by women in the electorate.
The Labour candidate won and the Greater London Council passed a special budget which saw more than 200 refuges built, putting gender equality right at the center of city policy. Labour then promoted an alliance of grass-roots candidates from the actual communities in which they were standing for election, and this had a great effect on lifting London out of economic recession.
Compared with the lofty goals of establishing a civil alliance and turning London into a modern city, Ko’s call for an opposition alliance, which basically amounts to the leaders of political parties joining forces to improve their chances of winning, is much less ambitious.
Ko is a relative newcomer to politics, he has much more potential than established politicians for coming up with creative policy ideas for the city and doing something genuinely new to transcend pan-green or pan-blue partisanship, a problem he has often spoken about.
Taipei’s voters are among the most savvy in the country, with approximately 1 million swing voters unfettered by loyalties to any particular party. Any candidate with promising policies has a good chance of emerging the winner.
Sabina Sun is a social commentator and a doctorate candidate in the Department of Urban Planning at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Translated by Drew Cameron
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