The number of small parties running in Jan. 11’s legislative elections have reached a record 19, but whether they can secure seats depends on whether they can find clear identities to appeal to voters, according to academics.
While the Legislative Yuan continues to be dominated by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), academics say that increasing dissatisfaction regarding the major political parties could give smaller players a better chance.
“We have seen more small parties entering the 2020 election than in previous years, and it is likely that there will be more such parties formed in the future, becoming an alternative for people tired of having to choose between the DPP or KMT,” said Hu Po-yen (胡博硯), a law professor at Soochow University.
Eighteen parties ran in the 2016 legislative elections, up from 11 in 2012.
However, an increased number of players does not necessarily mean that they are becoming more competitive, as many lack clear identities and are often perceived as being affiliated with bigger parties, some academics say.
“Small parties need to better position themselves by telling voters how different they are from the traditional political parties and why they are the better choice,” Chinese Culture University professor Niu Tse-hsun (鈕則勳) said.
The issue of differentiation for smaller parties has come into focus particularly in the run-up to these elections.
Following KMT infighting, Hon Hai Precision Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) withdrew from the party in September, after he was defeated in the KMT primary in July by Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜).
For a while, Gou was considering running for president as an independent, but decided instead to work with the People First Party (PFP), which is chaired by its presidential candidate, James Soong (宋楚瑜), and the Taiwan People’s Party, which was established in August by Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲).
Yang Tai-shuenn (楊泰順), a political science professor at Chinese Culture University, said that the requirements for political parties to enter the race for at-large seats are too lax.
Under Taiwan’s “single-member constituency, two-vote” system, each eligible voter can cast two ballots in the legislative elections — one for a district candidate and another for a political party. Based on the vote count in the latter, 34 at-large seats are apportioned, but a political party must gain at least 5 percent of the ballots to be eligible for a share of the at-large seats.
Taiwan has “an overflow of political parties,” and small parties should be legally required to prove they have sufficient support, Yang said.
For instance, parties should be required to have received a donation threshold, or achieve a signature threshold, before fielding a candidate, he said.
However, some say that it is difficult to develop smaller parties in Taiwan’s political environment.
“Even if such parties only have 5 percent public representation, they should be given a space in the legislature,” Hu said.
Chu Chao-hsiang (曲兆祥), a political science professor at National Taiwan Normal University, and Niu said there is a good chance that small parties will gain more votes in these elections, creating a legislature in which no party holds a majority, due to poor performances by the DPP and the KMT, as well as their disappointing nominations for at-large seats.
In the 113-seat legislature, 73 seats are directly elected in winner-take-all constituencies, six are reserved for Aboriginal candidates elected by Aborigines, and 34 are at-large seats allocated based on a patry’s share of the political party vote.
In the 2016 elections, the DPP obtained 18 legislator-at-large seats, the KMT 11, the PFP three and the New Power Party two.
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
RSS