The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) defeat in Saturday’s legislative by-elections could have a domino effect and the party could suffer yet another setback in the special municipality elections at the end of the year if it fails to integrate local factions and present better policies, political observers said.
The KMT secured only one of the four legislative seats in Saturday’s by-election, winning Hualien County but losing Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Chiayi to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). This marked the second electoral defeat for the KMT this year after it lost all three contested seats in another legislative by-election in January.
National Dong Hwa University professor Shih Cheng-feng (施正鋒) said the power struggle between local factions was a major factor in the KMT’s defeats, adding that KMT Secretary-General King Pu-tsung’s (金溥聰) party reform plans appeared to have failed to win the support of pan-blue voters.
In a post-election press conference on Saturday, King said the party had lost the by-elections in Taoyuan and Hsinchu — both pan-blue strongholds — because of intra-party splits.
For the Taoyuan race, the KMT nominated former commissioner of the Taoyuan County Department of Cultural Affairs Apollo Chen (陳學聖), who had failed to top polls within the party. Former Taoyuan County councilor Wu Yu-tung (吳餘東) and Jhongli Deputy Mayor Lin Hsiang-mei (林香美) later withdrew from the KMT to join the by-election, splitting the pan-blue vote and contributing to Chen’s defeat.
Even though the KMT secured Hualien, it fought hard to suppress the faction led by Hualien County Commissioner Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁), who gave his full endorsement to independent candidate Shih Sheng-lang (施勝郎).
King said the party refused to make compromises with certain local factions and would press ahead with party reform and nominate candidates with integrity regardless of the electoral outcome.
The KMT’s nomination strategy, however, sent mixed messages, said Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政), a political scientist at Soochow University.
The KMT fielded a candidate like Wang Ting-sheng (王廷升), a university professor who narrowly beat the DPP’s Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) in Hualien, but it compromised with local factions that supported former Hsinchu County commissioner Cheng Yung-chin (鄭永金) and nominated his brother Cheng Yung-tang (鄭永堂) in Hsinchu, Lo said.
While President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), in his capacity as KMT chairman, visited the county many times and King sought Hsinchu County Commissioner Chiu Ching-chun’s (邱鏡淳) support for Cheng Yung-tang, this did not prevent a defeat in Hsinchu.
Wang Yeh-li (王業立), a professor at National Taiwan University (NTU), said local factions were an issue within the KMT.
“The KMT’s battle against local factions prompted some pan-blue supporters to turn their back on the party. It could create a domino effect and the party could very well lose the five special municipality elections,” he said.
Lin Huo-wang (林火旺), also at NTU and who once served as senior advisor to President Ma, saw things differently.
“It [the defeat] tells Ma that he should stop trying to woo voters from the pan-green camp,” he said. “A political party will not be able to hold its core support if it drifts further away from its ideals.”
The KMT has suffered a series of setbacks in elections since regaining power in 2008. Before losing the two legislative by-elections, it also suffered defeats in the Miaoli and Yunlin legislative by-elections, as well as the local government elections in December.
The KMT has struggled to “turn the game around,” Lo said, adding that the momentum could cause a ripple effect that will undermine its prospects in the five special municipality elections at the end of the year, which are considered more important than the two recent legislative by-elections.
“More white-collar workers and middle-class people appear to be supporting the opposition. [We should] bear in mind that there are more such voters in the five special municipalities,” Lo said.
Saturday’s by-election was also a personal setback for King, who accepted Ma’s invitation to serve as KMT secretary-general in December. Ma appointed King to accelerate party reform and organize election campaigns. The defeats in the two by-elections are expected to exacerbate resentment among party members who have challenged his abilities and disagree with party reform.
Ku Chung-hwa (顧忠華), a political scientist at National Chengchi University, said King failed to foster meaningful change within the KMT, adding that the election campaigns he organized were no better than prior to his appointment.
The biggest factor behind the KMT’s defeats, Ku said, was the lack of public trust in the Ma administration.
The government did a poor job explaining its policies, including its proposed signing of an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China, he said, adding that the KMT would suffer more defeats in the special municipality elections and the presidential election in 2012 if Ma repeated those mistakes and failed to make policymaking process transparent.
Ma yesterday apologized to supporters and vowed to proceed with party reform.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
NINTH MONTH: There were 11,792 births in Taiwan last month and 15,563 deaths, or a mortality rate of 8.11 per 1,000 people, household registration data showed Taiwan’s population was 23,404,138 as of last month, down 2,470 from August, the ninth consecutive month this year that the nation has reported a drop, the Ministry of the Interior said on Wednesday. The population last month was 162 fewer than the same month last year, a decline of 0.44 per day, the ministry said, citing household registration data. Taiwan reported 11,792 births last month, or 3.7 births per day, up 149 from August, it said, adding that the monthly birthrate was 6.15 per 1,000 people. The jurisdictions with the highest birthrates were Yunlin County at 14.62 per 1,000 people, Penghu County (8.61
RSS