Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

KMT defeat a new start for Taiwan democracy

Chiu Hei-yuan 瞿海源

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was routed in the nine-in-one elections. It managed to win only one of the six special municipalities [including the soon-to-be-upgrade Taoyuan County], and garnered only 41 percent of the total number of votes for mayors of the municipalities — compared with 48 percent for the Democratic Progressive Party.

In light of the significant defeat, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) approved the resignations of Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) and KMT secretary-general Tseng Tung-chuan (曾永權), but stopped short of taking responsibility himself, despite his prior insistence that he would not avoid accepting responsibility for election results.

Taiwanese compatriots include the ill and poor

Mayo Kuo 郭明裕

It is said that in big cities, social welfare organizations assist the poor, but it is a fact that the poor are often ignored by the law simply because they only have a small amount of money in savings.

This is precisely why people like Huang Yi-hua (黃怡華) — who goes by the nickname “Sweet Potato mama” and is a member of independent Taipei mayor-elect Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) team of advisers — came out strongly in support of Ko, saying that he is their only hope of turning their lives around.

Taiwan must develop self-reliance

Jerome Keating

In any youthful and developing democracy, elections — even local ones — raise the formative issues of identity and national direction.

Taiwan’s nine-in-one elections have certainly proved to be no exception. In these elections, one party in particular, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), has gone out of its way to resurrect questionable “race cards” and “loyalty cards,” as it tried to force its version of the nation’s history and identity on the public along with its candidates. Accusations such as “traitor” and “bastard” — as well as the implication that only KMT candidates would be able to work together on intercity issues — have brought these elections to an all-time low.

Taipei can break free from the KMT today

Lee Min-yung 李敏勇

This time the Taipei mayoral election is different, defying the established logic of party politics. It is a highly symbolic local election, in which people really can make a difference.

On the weekend before the election, both Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Sean Lien (連勝文) and independent mayoral candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) held major campaign rallies. They chose very different routes, traveling in opposite directions. Lien walked from the Taipei City Government to the Presidential Office Building, while Ko marched from Liberty Square to the Taipei City Government. From the sound coming from the different rallies, it was clear that there was also a very big difference in what they represented.

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