The five special municipality elections on Nov. 27 are developing into a strange set of elections. The ruling Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is behaving like an opposition party as it goes on the attack, while the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) runs a defensive, stable campaign as if it were in power.
In addition to controlling the national government, the KMT is also in charge of Taipei City, Taipei County and Taichung City. The DPP, on the other hand, is using its best potential candidates for the 2012 presidential election in these elections, as former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) are running in Taipei City and Sinbei City. Some think Su and Tsai would prefer not to win, as they would not want to miss out on the presidential election. At the same time, they cannot afford to lose this month, as that would make it difficult for them to convince the party that they have a real chance of winning a presidential election.