Local polls set stage for tighter presidential race in 2024
Taiwan is set for a more contentious presidential race focused on rising tensions with China, after low turnout in local elections handed China-sceptic President Tsai Ing-wen’s party historic losses.
The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won just five of 21 city- and county-level races on Saturday, its worst showing since its founding in 1986.
The opposition Kuomintang, which historically has an advantage in local elections, held onto 13 seats, gaining power in both the capital Taipei and export hub Taoyuan.
Tsai quit as head of the DPP to take responsibility for the losses, which came amid rising public disquiet over cost-of-living issues and an uptick in pandemic deaths. But while the KMT now controls four of the island’s six biggest cities, the turnout in those areas slumped to 59.86%, the lowest level since 1994, according to the Central Election Commission. The KMT also had surprising losses in Kinmen, Miaoli and Penghu counties.
“Local elections are the KMT’s to lose by default,” said Wen-Ti Sung, a specialist on Taiwanese politics and crossstrait relations at Australia National University. “The DPP needed to - but largely failed to marshal a strong campaign in Taipei, the centre of attention. Instead it got bogged down with negative campaigning, which only fuelled anti-status quo protest votes that benefited the opposition KMT.”
The results reflected the public’s desire for “peace, stability, and a better life”, said Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office. China pledged to push for peaceful cross-strait relations while warning against “Taiwanese independence forces and foreign interference”.
“As the KMT scored a big win, we expect cross-strait tensions to ease, so companies that have a lot of investment in China, or those with assets like land, or construction shares, are likely to benefit,” said Angela Chuang, a fund manager at Capital Investment Trust Corp.
For both parties, the results will ignite internal jockeying ahead of the presidential election in 2024, when Tsai will step down due to term limits. Presidential polls are typically dominated by voter views on how the island democracy should handle relations with China.
“Primary season is upon us,” said Lev Nachman, associate professor at National Chengchi University in Taipei. “But not all is lost for DPP by any means and they are still expected to do well in 2024, when national security and relations with China become much more salient in the election.”