Amid Public Grievances, DPP Suffers Greatest Setback Since Founding
United Daily News Editorial, November 27, 2022
The results of the local elections were unveiled. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) suffered a complete defeat and only won the governing power of five counties and cities, far inferior to the 13 counties and cities garnered by the opposition Kuomintang (KMT). The DPP's local ruling territory has largely retreated, and it is only trapped in the corner of southern Taiwan, in a geographical term, "south of Beigang River". This is the biggest setback of the DPP since its founding. This big defeat is certainly related to the DPP's ineffective local management, but the more critical factor is that the central government, the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen, is too unpopular. The so-called “dislike DPP” sentiment once again swept nation-wide and dealt the DPP a heavy blow.
Yesterday's low turnout, with less than 60 percent in many counties and cities, reflected the people's disappointment with the current politics. Many areas that used to be the stronghold of the DPP failed to cast the corresponding number of votes as expected, indicating that many light green supporters are reluctant to "hold the nose to vote" for the DPP candidates. In addition, two KMT candidates, Su Ching-chuan of Pingtung and Hsieh Lung-chieh of Tainan, who were not optimistic prior the election, posed a greater threat to their opponents in traditionally DPP-dominant areas. All these are warning signs for the DPP: A party which takes the people's support for granted but fails to respond to supporter demands for fairness and justice will sooner or later be abandoned and cast aside.
In this election results, the person who has been hit the hardest is undoubtedly President Tsai, and her resignation as DPP chairwoman is not enough to make up for her shortcomings. President Tsai single-handedly directed her party's candidate nominations, but she was extremely biased toward the controversial figures Lin Chih-chien and Chen Shih-chung, and even led the party to resist the surging of public opinion. What is even more detestable is that President Tsai abused her role to support candidates allegedly affiliated with her cronies, seen as parasitic on mafia groups. She even played the "resist China to protect Taiwan" card that did not match the tonality of local elections to divide society, saying that "to vote for the DPP is to vote for Tsai Ing-wen" and support "Team Taiwan." Now, the outcome is a sounding slap with a clear five-finger print on her face. People have different opinions on what is meant by "Team Taiwan". How can she be the sole right one?
The defeat of the key person, Taipei mayoral candidate Chen Shih-chung, and even the DPP’s collapse across northern Taiwan, can actually be seen as the spillover and spread of the "hate DPP" sentiment. In Pingtung and Tainan, with long history of "DPP-dominance," the DPP only won by a small margin this time. In New Taipei, Taichung, eastern Taiwan, and other places, the DPP lost more votes than ever. Some cities and counties which DPP reckoned as “five-star” safe areas, such as Taoyuan, Keelung, Hsinchu, were left behind by a large gap, all of which must be attributed to the central government's "Being the pain point of people's grievances." Since its establishment, the DPP has won a maximum of thirteen seats in county mayor elections in its peak time, and at least six seats in its bad time. This time it only won five seats: a dire situation like its pre-founding era.
The main significance of this election is that the people have given the DPP and the Tsai administration a clear message: the people do not agree with the current ruling line, if the ruling party does not rectify it in time, people will teach the DPP a lesson with more radical way in the next elections. It cannot be denied that the reason why the DPP administration has been so domineering and arrogant in recent years is mainly because of a series of victories. The DPP won the presidential and legislature elections in early 2020, and in the middle of the same year DPP successfully recalled then Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu, and in 2021 it successfully stopped the attempt of the KMT-initiated four major referendum cases. The referenda, coupled with this year's success of wining two by-elections, the whole party was overwhelmed by a series of victories. With dominance in the Legislative Yuan, and DPP’s full-fledged political power, President Tsai extended her hand into the other branches of the nation. The relevant checks and balances of the five-power constitution system seemed to be so fragile as if it is no longer existed. The government has become arbitrary in its decision-making, the arrogant remarks of high-ranking officials has been continuously encouraged, but the government’s effectiveness has not improved. All kinds of "the Green can, but you cannot" phenomena have made people hate it to the extreme. This time people's grievances have started a prairie fire.
The paradox is that President Tsai is constantly showing off Taiwan's "democratic values", but her governance does not follow democratic principles. Instead, the government frequently use intimidation, and “double standards are everywhere”. It can be said that she does not regard the people of Taiwan as the object of practicing democracy. Ironically, the DPP used the flank of the cyber army to mislead and inundate public opinion. As a result, it drowned out the truth of public opinion that President Tsai must know, and finally drowned the DPP's local ruling territory. The people eventually have abandoned DPP without regret.
The DPP once thought it was the darling of public opinion, but now public opinion has turned against it and turned into a public resentment. The only remaining five counties and cities in the DPP have a combined population of only 6 million, accounting for only 26 percent of Taiwan's population.
On the day Tsai was elected president in 2016, she made her pledge to the people that she and her administration will be “humble, humble, and humbler.” Now the DPP, the same political party, when faces the people, shouldn't it reiterate the famous phrase of "be humble" three times again?