President Tsai’s party loses significantly in local elections. Their attempt to engage in local politics with national issues failed.
Disappointed faces at the ruling DPP party: Chen Shih-chung (centre), the candidate for mayor of the capital Taipei, apologizes to his supporters.
Taiwan’s current political map is dominated by blue, the color of the opposition Kuomintang Party (KMT). She conquered 13 of 21 cities and regions where the heads of government were to be determined on Saturday. President Tsai Ing-wen’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) received only five of these posts. She lost two offices compared to 2018 and will only lead local governments in her home countries in southern Taiwan.
China-Frege has little influence on local politics
For the DPP, the outcome of the election is all the more painful because it performed disappointingly four years ago. Tsai took responsibility for the outcome of the election and immediately resigned as party leader. Under her leadership, the DPP had attempted to turn security policy into local politics. She failed miserably.
DPP exponents had constantly argued that they should be elected to defend Taiwan. National defense certainly has local components – such as building bunkers for the population, securing electricity and water supplies in the event of war or organizing rescue organizations. But the party made few concrete proposals. The electorate apparently perceived the DPP’s tactics as scaremongering.
The voters were primarily concerned with local issues. At the top of the list of concerns are the high and rising cost of living and housing, but also order and security. The KMT was better able to address these issues. The fact that the DPP, as the governing party, was responsible for Covid policy at the national level probably also harmed it. Although this was quite successful in international comparison, many companies in the service sector suffered from the restrictions.
The victory of the KMT, which is more friendly towards China than the DPP on foreign policy, is therefore hardly a sign for Beijing. The question of Taiwan’s position towards China will arise in January 2024, when the national parliament and the presidency will be appointed.
President Tsai will not be able to stand again after two terms in office. Within her party, she is considered cautious on the China question. The fact that she is now resigning as party president could give a boost to those camps in the DPP that are more explicitly pro-independence. Beijing treated the moderate Tsai Ing-wen as a dangerous agitator; It remains unclear how a Taiwanese president who is flirting with independence would deal with it. However, the DPP and the KMT have not yet identified their candidates.
Chiang Kai-shek’s great-grandson becomes mayor
With Taipei, the KMT regained one of its longstanding strongholds. The capital was ruled for eight years by the independent Ko Wen-je, who was no longer allowed to compete. His successor will be Chiang Wan-an, a young lawyer who has lived in the United States for a long time. At just 43, Chiang is a poster boy for the KMT, which otherwise struggles to recruit younger members.
His family background is remarkable. His father is the illegitimate son of Chiang Ching-kuo, the last authoritarian president of the Republic of China, as Taiwan is officially called. The new mayor is a great-grandson of Chiang Kai-shek, the generalissimo who lost the Chinese civil war to the communists and fled to Taiwan in 1949 with around two million followers.
Chiang Wan-an, a great-grandson of autocrat Chiang Kai-shek, becomes mayor of Taipei.
That makes Chiang a red rag in the DPP camp. Many of its older exponents come from the pro-democracy movement, long brutally repressed by the KMT. In KMT circles, on the other hand, Chiang is seen as something of a hereditary prince. “Blue” blood, so to speak, flows in his veins. This segment of the electorate supported him, even though his record in six years as a member of the national parliament was rather poor.
Chiang will be under special scrutiny because Taipei’s mayoralty is seen as a stepping stone to Taiwan’s presidency. Three of Taiwan’s four democratically elected presidents previously served in the capital. President Tsai is the exception.
However, Chiang is unlikely to compete in January 2024. In 2022, the KMT nominated Han Kuo-yu, who the year before had seized the mayoralty in Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s second-largest city and a DPP stronghold. Han lost the presidential election to Tsai Ing-wen. Among other things, he was accused of not taking his office in Kaohsiung seriously, but only using it as a springboard for national politics. A few months later he was voted out. KMT is unlikely to repeat that mistake with new star Chiang Wan-an in Taipei.