The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) made gains in the Jan. 13 legislative elections, with its success — and its potentially influential position when the next legislative session starts — widely attributed to support from young people without strong party affiliations.
However, Huang Kai-ping (黃凱苹), a political science professor at National Taiwan University, delved into the core beliefs of TPP backers.
Huang said at a forum that such voters occupy a relatively middle ground on relations with China and lean away from populism.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
The rise of a third party in a system that has long favored two major parties was an interesting phenomenon, she said, adding that TPP supporters have a different outlook from those who back the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Huang cited data from an online survey conducted on Dec. 17 in which people were asked who they would support in the presidential and legislative elections, and their views on ties with China and other issues.
TPP supporters were just as mainstream in their support for the “status quo” on China as DPP and KMT backers, she said.
The survey garnered 974 valid responses. Of those who backed TPP Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) in the presidential election, 92.1 percent supported the “status quo” and there were similar results for those who backed the other two candidates. Among those who supported New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) of the KMT, 96.8 percent favored the “status quo,” while the rate was 84.8 percent for Vice President William Lai (賴清德) of the DPP.
The difference in views was more evident in the breakdown of four interpretations of what the “status quo” might mean — “eventual unification with China,” “anti-independence,” “anti-unification” or “eventual formal independence from China.”
Fifty point two percent of Ko’s supporters leaned toward anti-unification and 27.1 percent favored eventual independence.
In contrast, Lai’s supporters were more inclined toward independence (43 percent) and 34.8 percent backed anti-unification.
Hou’s backers favored anti-independence (33.9 percent), anti-unification (32.2 percent) and eventual unification (17.7 percent), the survey showed.
Ko’s supporters were more closely aligned with Hou’s backers in favoring economic and political interaction with China, while Lai voters marginally favored economic engagement, but opposed political interaction, Huang said.
Ko’s supporters “favored a middle-ground approach to cross-strait relations, believing that showing goodwill could lower the temperature and avoid harsher measures like trade restrictions or military escalation,” she said.
Critics say that the TPP is a populist party that used social media to build a following, but add that it has no clear policy positions.
Huang did not comment on whether Ko or the party are “populist,” but she disagreed that its supporters should be portrayed that way.
Populism is defined as being anti-institutional and anti-elite, but in Taiwan, voters tend to all be anti-elite and anti-establishment regardless of political affiliation, Huang said.
Instead of being populist, it would be more accurate to say the Taiwanese electorate generally supports democracy, and checks and balances, she said.
They also all overwhelmingly disagree with the idea that a leader could have unlimited power to act on behalf of the public, or that a government that has wide support should be able to do whatever it wants, Huang said.
The election results on Jan. 13 are somewhat reflective of that, she added.
In the presidential race, no candidate won an absolute majority. Lai won with 40.05 percent of the vote, followed by Hou with 33.5 percent and Ko with 26.5 percent.
In the 113-seat Legislative Yuan, the TPP won eight legislator-at-large seats, giving it a pivotal role after neither the DPP (51 seats) nor the KMT (52 seats) acheived a 57-seat absolute majority.
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