Divided Taiwan to vote in key test for ruling party
TAIPEI: When Taiwan goes to the polls Saturday in local elections, it will not only be a test for President Tsai Ing-wen’s embattled government but a crucial vote on divisive issues that could rile China.
The ballot includes an unprecedented 10 referendums, one of which calls for Taiwan to change the name it uses at sports events, a proposal that has already angered Beijing.
Also on the ballot are pro- and anti- gay rights referendums, reflecting tension between conservative and liberal groups as the government drags its heels to implement a Constitutional Court decision that legalised gay marriage over a year ago.
The island-wide vote on Nov 24 covers seats from village level upwards, with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party ( DPP) currently controlling 13 of the 22 cities and counties that will elect new chiefs, including four of the six key mayoral battlegrounds.
But opinion polls tip the party to lose ground as resentment grows over a stagnant economy and reforms that have included cutting back pensions and public holidays.
Although Taiwan’s GDP grew 2.89 per cent in 2017 and is forecast to increase 2.69 per cent this year, voters say the benefits have not trickled down to ordinary people, with salaries failing to keep up with the rising cost of living.
“Economy matters the most to me,” shop owner CC Tseng, 71, told AFP in Taipei.
Effie Gao, a 50-year- old Taipei resident, added: “Boosting the economy is the most important thing, instead of promoting political ideologies.” Political analyst Wang Yeh-lih of National Taiwan University warned Tsai could become a ‘lame duck’ if there were major losses.
The DPP is struggling to retain control of its traditional southern stronghold Kaohsiung city as the opposition Kuomintang ( KMT) party makes gains.
The KMT have been on the back foot since losing the leadership and their majority in parliament for the first time in 2016.
“A win in Kaohsiung would be a badly needed shot in the arm for the KMT, and a blow for Tsai,” said Jonathan Sullivan, director of China programmes at Nottingham University. However, he predicted that unless there were devastating losses across the board, Tsai would not be supplanted ahead of the 2020 presidential elections.
“Depending on the results, she may feel more domestic pressure to go with the pressures from China,” he added.
After the government last year reduced the barriers for getting a question on the ballot, voters will be faced with 10 referendums filed by various groups.
The most controversial is the vote for Taiwan to compete in the 2020 Olympics as ‘Taiwan’ instead of ‘Chinese Taipei’.
China sees self-ruling Taiwan as part of its territory to be reunified, and opposes any recognition of its sovereignty. Under Beijing pressure, Taiwan has to compete internationally as ‘Chinese Taipei’. Officials have said Taiwan’s Olympic Committee is not obliged to submit a request to the International Olympic Committee if the vote goes through.