Yesterday’s nine-in-one local elections were a vote of confidence on the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government. They ended with a resounding rejection, as the KMT suffered a landslide defeat. Among the special municipalities, it lost Taipei, Taoyuan and Greater Taichung, in addition to Greater Kaohsiung and Greater Tainan, which were already under Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) control. It also lost Keelung, Changhua and Penghu counties. This was a clear signal that voters are unhappy with the government and, with a slap in the face of President and KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), they have ushered in the post-Ma era.
Most notably, independent Taipei mayoral candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) led Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Sean Lien (連勝文) from beginning to end. Without a party apparatus to back him up and with no political experience, Ko had access to only limited resources, while Lien was backed by the KMT’s vast financial resources, tactical voting organization and solid support in the city, where even former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), despite a very strong record as Taipei mayor, failed to win re-election. However, Ko transcended the blue-green divide, successfully appealed to both blue and green voters and mobilized young voters with the help of social media, putting constant pressure on Lien and splitting the KMT voter base.
There are great differences between Ko and Lien in terms of their backgrounds as well as experience, and Lien was never able to rid himself of his image as the son of a wealthy and powerful top government official. Lien’s campaign director, Alex Tsai (蔡正元), relied on a traditional campaign as he called on deep-blue voters to return to the fold, and people campaigning for Lien did not refrain from playing the racist card, calling Ko a Japanese imperial subject, a bastard and a descendant of Japanese imperial officials. Lien’s campaign organization also used government resources to investigate Ko’s handling of National Taiwan University Hospital’s MG149 account and claimed that he had been involved in organ harvesting. However, none of this seemed to hurt Ko and instead only increased support for his policy positions.
Greater Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) may be an able administrator, but after two terms as Taichung mayor without being brought into the central government and without nurturing a successor, his only option was to run for re-election. Faced with the challenge launched by DPP candidate Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), who has spent 10 years building support in the city, Hu rushed out the Bus Rapid Transit system and the soft opening of the National Taichung Theater to play up his political achievements, but despite the full support of the KMT, Lin emerged the winner.
Taoyuan County Commissioner John Wu (吳志揚) was expected to do well thanks to the county’s imminent elevation to special municipality and the Taoyuan Aerotropolis project, but he proved unable to rise to the challenge of the DPP’s Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦). Even shining star New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), who had been predicted to coast to an easy victory, instead engaged in a hard-fought battle with DPP candidate Yu Shyi-kun (游錫堃). In the end, Chu won, but lost a lot of his luster in the process.
Local elections do not involve the central government, and focus on the local candidates’ policies and tactics. However, the Ma administration’s performance determined the political environment and helped the pan-green camp to greatly increase the number of votes and areas under its control.
Ma must now take full responsibility, and democratic principles demanded that Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) take political responsibility by stepping down. As party chairman, Ma must of course take responsibility for the results and step down as party chairman. Even if he refuses to step down, saying that these were local elections, he will be a “lame duck” president lacking the authority to control the party, the government and the military.
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