The Sept. 17 registration deadline for independent candidates undeniably represented a watershed in race for next year’s presidential election. Before that date, a three-way race was full of tension; after, it has once again become a confrontation between the pan-blue and pan-green camps, and it is very predictable.
Due to this situation, the political environment has changed and the presidential candidates should adopt a new approach lest the race become a dogfight, which would be unfavorable to the overall situation in Taiwan.
What is the overall situation?
First, raising the quality of the nation’s democracy so that the election process becomes a lesson in democracy.
Second, a government that actively performs its duties rather than implementing shortsighted policies to attract votes.
Third, a correct interpretation of the international situation that prevents misjudgements caused by temporary incidents.
These are the responsibilities of every candidate and their campaign teams, and the leading candidate should have the courage to set the agenda, prevent the focus from being deflected from running the nation and display their leadership ability.
For example, take the presidential candidates’ busy schedule visiting temples. What does this tell the public? In day-to-day political life, temples have slowly become divided into two categories.
The first category consists of temples associated purely with traditional religious beliefs that create human networks naturally formed by ordinary followers.
The second, the more harmful, consists of temples associated with temple operators with a particular background: These temples unite local political factions and secure township mayors and village and borough wardens as “vote captains” to build resource distribution systems, which then turn into political participation networks.
Both categories are influential at the grassroots level.
In addition to politicians who try to connect with the grassroots through local temples, even China targets them as part of its “united front” propaganda.
Because of the role the local temple system has long played in traditional politics, politicians who want to join the system to gain support usually need to make huge compromises. Due to this, those with a clean image often stay away, thus delaying the arrival of new politicians, especially in rural areas.
Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) candidate, has won the favor of a number of temples in central and southern Taiwan, and also set a record by visiting 21 temples in a single day.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is trying to take reality into account and has started visiting temples nationwide so as not to be outdone by Han.
As a temple is not the right place for deep political analysis, the mainstay of the campaign consists of candidates randomly visiting temples and giving impromptu responses. The result is fragmentation and a lack of differentiation between candidates. As this is repeated over and over, middle-of-the-road voters become disappointed, which is precisely what the latest polls seem to show.
Of course, this is not in line with the public’s view of ideal politics, and the presidential candidates should rethink their campaign strategies. In the long run, the quality of democracy is constructed by the system.
The question is whether the two main parties will be able to produce two politicians who can agree on reforming the elections of township mayors and village and borough wardens to dismantle the “vote captain” culture, and bring about a “separation of church and state” by cleaning up the bottom of the political barrel.
Tzou Jiing-wen is the editor-in-chief of the Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times).
Translated by Eddy Chang
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