Taipei Times November 22nd
Wu said that while in the US, the midterm election is seen as a vote of confidence for the sitting president as it is held in between presidential terms, in Taiwan, candidates are selected for their connections with local factions, their personal image and whether they have competence to serve the public, all of which have little to do with the nation’s leader.Whilst not untrue, Wu's attempt to decouple the results from the public's perception of the President and executive is unlikely to stick with voters, as MT argued yesterday.
Wu said the population of the areas in next month’s elections was about 9 million, while the five municipalities that select leaders next year have a population of more than 13 million. These are Taipei County, Taichung City and County, Tainan City and County and Kaohsiung City and County, which will be upgraded or merged into municipalities, and Taipei City.Here Wu seems to be somewhat crudely suggesting that since a minority of total voters will engage in the elections (and the final voter turnout will be far less than 9 million) the results can not be regarded as a barometer of public support for the KMT, Ma and the Government. Again, I'm not sure that's how the media will run with it if the DPP make any gains above the three counties they already control.
Taipei Times November 23rd
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said yesterday the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) had little chance of making a clean sweep of the 17 seats up for grabs in the Dec. 5 elections for county commissioners and city mayors.This reality check is designed to limit KMT supporter's anger if the party performs badly. We wont win every seat (they were unlikely to ever do so) but near enough (e.g. 75% of them) will be good enough.
Later on, during the CSC meeting, Wu said that if the KMT could hold on to Nantou, Changhua and the counties and cities north of them, the party could view that as a victory.Ah .. the old Shilou Line ... invisible dividing line between North and South and respectively, Blue (China-centric) and Green (Taiwan-centric). Still, this is surprisingly modest for the KMT and a sign of their lack of confidence in the prospective results. Myself, I tend to find anything can happen so predictions are academic until the results come in and are confirmed.
Wu also said that he would take responsibility for any failure in the elections, as the candidates were all nominated during his tenure as part secretary-general.Interesting. In what way will Wu 'take responsibility'? We wait and see.
Links:
- David Mitchell of the Guardian on online comments and how they are often dominated by some of the strangest and vituperative people around. Check the comments below his article for a giggle.
- A website with a witty take on such 'commenters'
- Dissident author claims 2012 will not feature natural disaster so much as political disaster for Taiwan. Many of us have been saying this since before the 2008 elections ...
- David reviews a new police drama film.
