Prominence in post-quake relief and reconstruction has given Vice President Lien Chan, the KMT's presidential candidate, a natural advantage in gaining media exposure and public attention, so much so that his rivals are having to find ever more ingenious ways to get some attention themselves without provoking public disapproval, analysts said yesterday.
The two major opposition candidates, KMT maverick James Soong (
"These are all defensive measures intended to maintain basic-level visibility," said Herman Chiang (
"Media attention is like oxygen for candidates," he said. "After the quake they cannot compete with Lien, who has government resour-ces in getting coverage, but they have to keep a minimum amount of air for them to survive."
"Under these circumstances, there is no way for opposition candidates to compete with Lien, who can give orders from his position in the executive branch and make promises to residents in disaster areas, while other candidates don't have such means," said Yang Tai-shuenn (楊泰順), a political analyst at Chinese Culture University.
In this less-than-optimal situation, Chen and Soong have both shown strengths and weaknesses, analysts said.
Voters have told political pollsters that Chen's criticism of government relief work is too harsh, Yang said, but added that on other fronts Chen has not been doing too badly.
"For example, he has been promoting a campaign of `Volunteer Taiwan' [urging people to help residents in disaster areas] and organizing a lawyers' service corps," Yang said. "These activities should be positive for him."
Soong's position is complicated by his former position as Taiwan provincial governor. As such, Yang said, he should take part of the blame if there is anything wrong with the government's administration of building safety regulations.
"That is part of the reason why Soong has been subdued when he does criticize the government," Yang said.
But if Soong maneuvers well, he could reap some benefit if the people start to get dissatisfied with Lien on over the government's performance, Yang said, "as he has been successful in carving out an image of being good at delivering service to the people."
Basically, opposition candidates are limited to creating new issues or a watchdog role, analysts agreed.
"The most they can do is wait," said Chiang. "It is impossible for the government not to make any mistakes.
"They should endeavor to produce reconstruction proposals to serve as standards for evaluating how the government is doing and to point out whenever possible the government's unfairness in resource distribution," Chiang said.
Another measure is to create new issues other than earthquake relief, Yang said. "I know it is hard to do so, but as candidates they have to think hard," he said.
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