The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) are strategizing to boost their appeal among young people following Jan. 13’s presidential and legislative elections, which saw many young voters favoring the Taiwan People’s Party presidential candidate.
The DPP’s overall campaign strategy leading up to the elections was criticized as old-fashioned and ignoring communication with young people.
Some DPP members believed that some of the young voters who used to support the DPP shifted to TPP presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who created a large group of young supporters dubbed “little grass” (小草).
Photo: CNA
Many foreign guests who visited the DPP last year wondered why young people switched support from the DPP to the TPP, DPP Youth Director Juan Chun-ta (阮俊達) said.
Those who voted for the first time last month were born between 2000 and 2004, and alternating between parties is viewed as common, he said.
Young people tend to be optimistic and believe that democracy would not regress and there would be no election-meddling, so painting the elections as a choice between democracy and authoritarianism was often ignored, he said.
Young people are anti-system and anti-authority, and hate being lectured by elders, whereas Ko’s language appealed to them, he said.
The issues they are concerned about are work, rent and road rights for motorcyclists, while the DPP focused on defending Taiwan against China and cognitive warfare, he said.
The DPP should address the worries, anxieties and hopes of young people in ways that touch them, which the party is still figuring out, he said.
Some party members also questioned whether young voters were the only group in which it lost support.
The DPP should maintain communication with all Taiwanese, including the middle class, citizen groups and social movement groups, they said.
Wang Yi-chuan (王義川), incoming director of the DPP’s Policy Research and Coordinating Committee, said that the party would use diverse methods to get in touch with various groups to better understand their needs and adjust policies accordingly.
Chan Ho-shun (詹賀舜), incoming director of the DPP’s Center for New Media, said that the party should focus on producing content that is easy to understand and appeal to social media users, who would then help share and spread the message.
Meanwhile, the KMT would strive to provide stages for young people, nominate more young candidates in representative elections, adopt more progressive values and manage new media, KMT spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智?) said.
Mobilizing the support of young people — with the KMT lagging far behind the DPP and the TPP in the elections — is a key issue.
It is important to make young people feel that they would have opportunities and a future after joining the KMT, including the opportunity to serve as party cadres and participate in the party’s decisionmaking process, Yang said.
Appointing young Taoyuan City Councilor Ling Tao (凌濤) and Legislator Hung Mong-kai (洪孟楷) to lead the KMT’s Culture and Communications Committee was a good example that the party will continue to follow, she said.
The KMT nominated 15 candidates under the age of 40 in the legislative elections, 10 of whom won, she said, adding that the party is to recruit more young candidates to join the local elections in 2026.
Many perceive the KMT as old-school and conservative, an image that should be broken by the creativity shown in the party’s clothing, visual design and the appearance of the headquarters, she said.
KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) takes cultivating young people seriously, calling on elders to take a step back and provide political stages for young people, party members said.
The current establishment of the party might not be able to cover all the online media platforms, so resource allocation should be carefully thought out, they said.
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