President Ma’s re-election means a continued focus on the economy and cross-strait ties.
Despite pouring rain, a jubilant crowd gathered at the campaign headquarters of incumbent Republic of China (ROC) President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in Taipei on the evening of January 14 this year, where they waved banners and the national flag in celebration. The crowds were cheering Ma’s re-election to a second term in office. People in Taiwan went to the polls earlier that day to elect a president, vice president and legislators amid a widespread sense that the elections were too close to call.
Political pundits at home and abroad had been quite reserved about predicting the result as various opinion polls showed widely different outcomes over the previous six months. But Ma and his running mate, ROC Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT), won 51.6 percent of the popular vote against 45.63 percent garnered by their main challengers, Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The People First Party’s (PFP) presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) and his running mate Lin Ruey-shiung (林瑞雄) gained 2.77 percent of votes.
Addressing supporters at his campaign headquarters, Ma shouted a victorious “We won!” and added that it was not his personal victory but one for all Taiwanese people. “It is a victory for our having put Taiwan on the path to clean government, prosperity and peace,” Ma said. The win showed that people support the government’s efforts toward continued improvement of cross-strait relations, viable diplomacy and turning crisis into business opportunities, he said. The president said that he would not let the people down, adding that “at least every six months I shall invite political leaders not in government to jointly discuss national affairs.”
In her concession speech, Tsai congratulated Ma for winning re-election and apologized to her supporters for losing the presidential race. “We admit defeat and respect the people’s decision,” Tsai said. “We must stay strong. In the face of past frustrations, the DPP has never caved in, nor will it [be discouraged] this time.” To take responsibility for the loss, Tsai announced her resignation from her position as chairwoman of the DPP, but stressed that the party will continue to speak for the disadvantaged and work to better itself.
The elections were followed by the international community as well. The White House issued a press release congratulating Ma, stating that “Taiwan has proven to be one of the great success stories in Asia,” and has “again demonstrated the strength and vitality of its democratic system.”
Voter turnout this time around was the lowest since Taiwan began direct elections for the president and vice president in 1996. In 2000 and 2004, turnout reached more than 80 percent while in 2008, the figure was 76 percent. On the eve of the election, Central Election Commission Chairwoman Chang Po-ya (張博雅) had predicted voter turnout would be around 80 percent, but the actual turnout was 74.38 percent, with ballots cast by about 13.45 million of Taiwan’s some 18 million eligible voters.
The KMT also retained its majority in the legislature, winning 64 seats out of 113, down from 81, with the DPP gaining 40 seats, up from 27. The PFP collected 5.49 percent of the party vote, crossing the 5-percent threshold required for a party to be given at-large seats, which took its total to three seats, including one elected legislator and two at-large seats. The Taiwan Solidarity Union’s (TSU) 8.96 percent of the vote resulted in three at-large seats.
The PFP—a KMT splinter group founded in 2000—along with the KMT and the New Party are known as the “pan-blues,” whereas the DPP and TSU form the “pan-green” camp. The two alliances mainly represent different approaches toward statehood, with the latter traditionally supporting Taiwan independence. That being said, the issue of independence or unification with mainland China was largely put on the back burner for this year’s election as people shifted their focus to employment, the wealth gap and the economy in general.