KMT disdains young people
The voting age in most countries is 18. It is becoming clear that the Republic of China Constitution is far behind the international democratic mainstream, and the issue of civic rights has become a hot topic in the ongoing debate over constitutional amendments between the ruling and opposition parties.
According to a public opinion poll by the National Policy Foundation, a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) think tank, a majority of respondents oppose lowering the voting age to 18 and also think that talk of constitutional amendments is due to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) directing the political agenda.
Deep-blue media personality Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) said on his TV show — aimed at KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) — that “if you do not want to let young people’s votes, how about just not letting them vote? Everyone between 18 and 20 supports the DPP. Are they going to vote for you?” Jaw also said that the KMT should insist on preconditions for lowering the voting age to 18.
Jaw’s guest on the show, KMT Legislator Sandy Yeh (葉毓蘭), chimed in, saying “that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
This dumbfounding exchange is certain to make younger Taiwanese dislike the KMT even more, and the party will surely lose even more of the few young supporters it might still have.
As a member of the young generation, I can only say that the if the pan-blue camp political media outlets do not work to win the recognition of the younger generation, but instead maintain their arrogant attitude and continue to declare war on them by telling them that “if you do not vote for us, we are not giving you the right to vote,” they are in effect saying that “if you do not like us, we are going to destroy you.”
It is regrettable that KMT members are using the rights of the younger generation as a political bargaining chip instead of promoting their political rights.
The KMT has a youth organization, which only proves that Jaw was wrong when he said that all young people support the DPP. The younger generation supports freedom, democracy and a Taiwanese identity. Young people are not loyal to a certain political party. This is why younger voters gave the DPP a scare in the 2018 local elections, and the Taiwan People’s Party and the New Power Party won legislative seats in the election earlier this year.
If the KMT stubbornly insists on working against the younger generation, while leaning toward China and selling out Taiwan, it will continue to lose in coming elections as Taiwan’s youth abandons it.
Lai Yen-cheng
Taichung
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