The country is facing a new era of political uncertainty with no party expected to win a majority in the upcoming legislative elections, analysts and politicians say.
Like last year's presidential polls, which saw the KMT's 51-year grip on power end, the Dec. 1 elections could be a mixed blessing, they say.
"After the polls Taiwan could face a political situation it has never experienced before," said Joseph Wu (
"We can say for sure that not any single political party is going to get a majority in the legislature and that for the first time Taiwan will witness a coalition government."
Up for grabs are 225 seats in the legislature, including 168 for local constituencies, eight for representatives of Aboriginal groups and eight for overseas Taiwanese.
A total of 476 candidates are vying for the 168 seats, while the remaining 41 seats will be allocated to nominees from different political parties based on the parties' share of the vote.
Some local elections will also be held in conjunction with the polls, with five cities electing mayors and 18 counties choosing magistrates.
The mayors of the municipalities of Taipei, and Kaohsiung will not be elected in the Dec. 1 polls.
Apparently with the unstable political scenario in mind, President Chen Shui-bian (
The recommendation was snubbed by the opposition parties, with the main issue in dispute being which parties should dominate the new Cabinet.
The opposition also branded the offer as a trick by Chen aimed at leading the public into believing that the opposition parties should be held responsible for any political instability.
The opposition also felt the offer was part of the DPP's attempts to split the opposition camp and sway their legislators.
People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) warned that the country may lapse into a "constitutional stand-off and crisis" if the DPP government continued to refuse to surrender the right to organize the next Cabinet.
"President Chen should be aware that he has to share power and coordinate with the opposition if he hopes to see stable domestic politics after the polls," Soong said.
Soong, who finished a close second in the presidential elections last year, called on the DPP government to build mutual trust with the opposition by being sincere.
However, Wu does see some hope for the looming political scenario, basing his observation on the nation's bumpy political history.
"Taiwan's political development has always featured conflicts and instability," he said.
"The elections could spawn an opportunity for the establishment of a brand new government."
Soong urged Chen to compromise by allowing the opposition parties to dominate the expected coalition government after the polls, a move he said would set "constitutional precedents."
DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (
Julian Kuo (郭正亮), a political science professor at Soochow University and himself a DPP nominee for the legislative polls, predicted that the results would bring a coalition government backed by a majority consisting of DPP, independents, the pro-independence Taiwan Solidarity Union and up to 15 KMT lawmakers.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS