When it comes to the mayoral elections, Taipei is well-known for having more pan-blue, pro-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supporters than pan-green Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) backers.
In recent mayoral elections, the only victory by the DPP was for former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in 1994, which was a result of a split within the pan-blue camp. Chen enjoyed more than 70 percent approval as mayor, but regrettably lost to then-KMT candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in 1998.
Since then, the KMT has won consecutive mayoral elections in Taipei for 16 years.
In theory, Taipei voters should be more independent and personality-centered. In reality, history shows that most Taipei voters are conservative, partisan-driven and crave stability. That explains why former DPP candidates have mostly downplayed partisan disputes and portrayed their campaigns as a debate on governing capability, rather than highlight the blue-green or unification-independence dichotomies.
On the other hand, KMT candidates have often played the ethnic card and framed their DPP competitors as pro-Taiwanese independence. In the last mayoral election, incumbent mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) outpaced then-DPP candidate Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) due to the shooting incident involving Sean Lien (連勝文), the son of former vice president Lien Chan (連戰). Su was well-known as a capable political leader when serving as governor of Pingtung County and what was then Taipei County.
Nevertheless, after more than a decade of political wrestling between the pan-blue and pan-green camps, Taipei voters are craving new leaders with bold and realistic agendas, coupled with the skill to communicate and persuade. Most importantly, most Taipei voters expect a mayor who can deliver on campaign promises and refrain from using partisan divisions to distract from poor governance.
The uniqueness of the electoral structure in Taipei is undergoing a potential transformation in the upcoming campaign.
For the first time in recent elections, the main competitors in the Taipei mayoral election are people who do not have government experience. The KMT nominated Sean Lien, former chairman of EasyCard Corp and a member of the KMT’s Central Standing Committee, to compete with independent candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), a National Taiwan University Hospital physician supported by the DPP.
Ko has been a wild card in the campaign ever since he built momentum as an independent candidate. A non-traditional, action-oriented darling of the media, Ko has built up a totally new image for Taipei voters to consider.
To overcome such a unique electoral barrier and to minimize partisanship, Ko has introduced a new approach to establish a “major-league opposition” by unifying all opposition forces and voters who are fed up with the KMT’s governance. Ko has successfully made the first breakthrough by teaming up with the DPP.
Moreover, Ko has been steadily leading Lien by double-digit percentage points in almost every public poll so far.
Despite his fresh image, what else explains the “Ko phenomenon?” The poor governance of the Ma administration has given the opposition camp a chance to expand its influence among middle-of-the-road voters and even “light-blue” supporters. Inviting Yao Li-min (姚立明) of the right-wing New Party to be his campaign chief of staff, after securing his endorsement from the DPP, further deepened Ko’s image of bipartisanship. Most importantly, Ko’s camp has successfully framed the campaign as “the poor vs the rich” because Lien is seen as the “princeling” of the KMT and heir to the Lien family’s wealth.
Finally, Lien lacks campaign experience and charisma, and his team has performed poorly so far.
Having said that, Ko faces challenges. First, most blue-camp voters are reluctant to reveal their support for Lien largely because they would feel ashamed to identify with the KMT. Once the KMT plays the “emergent card,” they will automatically return to the camp. Since Lien was shot in the last mayoral election during a campaign event, his camp might play the sympathy card at the last minute.
Second, the KMT is the richest political party in the world. It will come up with overwhelming campaign ads in the near future which Ko’s campaign will find difficult to match.
Third, Ko’s campaign team lacks effective coordination with the DPP.
Ko can make history in Taipei. He just needs a chance to prove it.
Liu Shih-chung is president of the Taipei-based Taiwan Brain Trust.
A failure by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to respond to Israel’s brilliant 12-day (June 12-23) bombing and special operations war against Iran, topped by US President Donald Trump’s ordering the June 21 bombing of Iranian deep underground nuclear weapons fuel processing sites, has been noted by some as demonstrating a profound lack of resolve, even “impotence,” by China. However, this would be a dangerous underestimation of CCP ambitions and its broader and more profound military response to the Trump Administration — a challenge that includes an acceleration of its strategies to assist nuclear proxy states, and developing a wide array
Eating at a breakfast shop the other day, I turned to an old man sitting at the table next to mine. “Hey, did you hear that the Legislative Yuan passed a bill to give everyone NT$10,000 [US$340]?” I said, pointing to a newspaper headline. The old man cursed, then said: “Yeah, the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] canceled the NT$100 billion subsidy for Taiwan Power Co and announced they would give everyone NT$10,000 instead. “Nice. Now they are saying that if electricity prices go up, we can just use that cash to pay for it,” he said. “I have no time for drivel like
Twenty-four Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers are facing recall votes on Saturday, prompting nearly all KMT officials and lawmakers to rally their supporters over the past weekend, urging them to vote “no” in a bid to retain their seats and preserve the KMT’s majority in the Legislative Yuan. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which had largely kept its distance from the civic recall campaigns, earlier this month instructed its officials and staff to support the recall groups in a final push to protect the nation. The justification for the recalls has increasingly been framed as a “resistance” movement against China and
Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) reportedly told the EU’s top diplomat that China does not want Russia to lose in Ukraine, because the US could shift its focus to countering Beijing. Wang made the comment while meeting with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas on July 2 at the 13th China-EU High-Level Strategic Dialogue in Brussels, the South China Morning Post and CNN reported. Although contrary to China’s claim of neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, such a frank remark suggests Beijing might prefer a protracted war to keep the US from focusing on
RSS