Losing the presidency, winning only 35 out of 113 seats in Taiwan’s parliament, it’s fair to say it was a tough weekend for the political party KMT (Kuomintang). It may be time to them to answer the questions, what went wrong and whats next?
A series of blunderous steps led the KMT straight into the deep pit they are at today. This pot of mess mainly began from the nomination of the KMT’s presidential candidate. The chairman of the party, Wu Den-Yih, was caught in a dilemma between Foxconn’s CEO/ billionaire, Terry Guo. and Kaohsiung Mayor Han Guo Yu. Though eventually settling with Han as their candidate, the dilemma planted a seed of rivalry within the KMT’s political party. With Terry Guo’s eventual depart, many of his supporters and votes, who were also KMT supporters, left right by his side. Another major issue is if you took a look at each district’s polls, maybe you would’ve observed that in Kaohsiung, Han suffered a huge defeat of 12,000 votes to DPP candidate Tsai Ing Wen during the presidential election. What’s so interesting to know is that Han is in fact the mayor of Kaohsiung, how did he lose the city he won as mayor? To understand this we have to trace back to Han’s election process for mayor. Throughout that process, he repeatedly promised citizens’ that all of his focus will be towards the city, and he would not be taking part in the presidential election. By eventually devoting himself to the presidential election, Han tried explaining himself during his speeches that being president could help Kaohsiung more, but the trust he has from his citizens has slowly decreased since.
As for the other question, what is next for the KMT? Current chairman, Wu Den Yih, has already announced his resignation soon after the defeat of last saturday’s election. Many of the past generation of the KMT have decided to retire or left the world of politics, which could only mean one thing for this past glorious party, rebuild. It is time to increase the amount of their young politicians, and use this modern style of young power to invest in the future. Such as Taipei legislator, Chiang Wan An is a potential star with many support from the KMT. Chiang came out on top over the Taiwanese congress elections, defeating the opponent with his flawless records/ image and his noble heritage, his grandfather being former Taiwanese president Chiang Ching-Kuo and his great grandfather being Taiwan’s legendary figure, Chiang Kai Shek. By focusing on these young stars, KMT will be able to resolve the past rivalries and issues, instead focusing on uniting their front for the future.
Ever since their migration to Taiwan, the KMT has showed time to time its huge political influence and its power in Taiwan’s society, they may have been defeated once, but history has taught us to never doubt on the underdogs.