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DPP needs to regroup
and focus on 2016
By James Wang 王景弘
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was unable to
defeat President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in Saturday’s election, despite her own
outstanding qualities, the support of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and
Nobel prize winner Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲), the success of the “three little pigs”
fund-raising campaign and Ma’s own questionable record in office. This goes to
show how powerful the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) continues to be and just
how necessary it is to rein it in. The KMT has money and organization, and it
will stop at nothing to get to what it wants.
From her campaign rallies it appeared that Tsai was building up a startling
amount of momentum. The atmosphere at them was quite moving. In the end, though,
it just did not translate into enough votes and the KMT’s sway, inherited from
its heyday and apparently bolstered by petty bribes, brainwashing and
concessionary policies targeted at specific groups in society, was just too
strong.
People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) has participated in three
presidential elections, as either a presidential or vice presidential candidate.
He has failed each time.
The first time Soong sought to take advantage of the popularity he built up from
his time as governor of Taiwan province, beating the KMT’s nominee, Lien Chan
(連戰), but he was still pipped at the post by the DPP’s candidate, Chen Shui-bian
(陳水扁). The second time he ran as Lien Chan’s vice presidential candidate. This
time the prize was smaller, but he did have access to the KMT’s money and
organization. The two of them challenged Chen, but were again defeated.
In this last election, Soong chose to go it alone, but without the backing of
the KMT. It was always going to be an uphill struggle, one even he knew he could
not possibly win.
The DPP went into this election with an improved image and a candidate with
outstanding academic competence. The fact that it ultimately proved unequal to
the challenge is frustrating, but all one can do is wait for the next
opportunity.
The KMT is going to find it very difficult to find someone to step into Ma’s
shoes for the next election in 2016. Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), now
vice-president-in-waiting, thinks he is the man for the job, and sees himself as
Ma’s natural successor. However, he does not have a great image and lacks the
“halo” that Ma has built up over the years. In addition, he is not considered
particularly “orthodox,” and so it remains to be seen whether a new generation
of KMT leaders will put up with him.
The DPP has managed to win two presidential elections. Neither party has yet
successfully prevented an incumbent president from securing a second term. If
the DPP puts forward a good candidate at the next election, it will stand a
better chance of winning.
Before its next attempt to win the presidency, the DPP will need to bolster its
organization, cultivate talent within the party and strengthen its presence in
the legislature. It managed to increase its number of legislative seats in this
election, pushing out some of the more noxious KMT politicians.
Anyway, the public has chosen. The DPP may have failed in its attempt to get
back into government, but it did show that it can attract 6 million votes and
get 40 seats in the legislature. That is something neither Ma, China nor the US
can take lightly.
In the next four years the party must use its influence in the legislature as
best it can, and try to rein in the KMT. It needs to fight against abuses of
power, protect democracy and the livelihoods of Taiwanese, and safeguard
Taiwan’s autonomy.
James Wang is a media commentator.
Translated by Paul Cooper
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