It is the first time that Taiwan has adopted the "single-constituency, two-ballots" electoral system. Taiwan is divided into 73 constituencies, with voters casting one vote to choose a district candidate and another for their preferred political party. The second ballot decides the seats of legislators at large, which will be distributed according to the proportion of votes each party wins. But there is a threshold for joining the distribution: only parties that win more than 5 percent of all valid ballots will have the chance.
For the district legislators, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party is fielding a total of 71 candidates, including two indigenous people, while the opposition Kuomintang nominated 74 members, including four indigenous nominees. In addition, 109 candidates come from smaller parties such as the Green Party and the Taiwan Solidarity Union, with the remaining 42 candidates running as independents.
As for the legislator-at-large seats, 13 parties have named their candidates. Both the DPP and the KMT nominated 34 candidates each. Due to the fact that candidates from small parties will have little chance of gaining a seat as a district legislator, they will be looking to focus on their legislator-at-large campaigns. The TSU has 15 representatives, while the newly established Third Society Party has fielded five. The New Party named 10 candidates for legislator-at-large seats, and the Home Party enlisted seven. Nominees from small parties include representatives from minority groups, such as women's right activists, environmentalists and artists. Those who have registered to run must first be approved by the Central Election Commission.
The DPP predicts that they could win at least 50 district seats, hoping for 60, since support for the DPP in southern Taiwan is stable, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported Nov. 20. But officials from the DPP also expressed that the goal of winning 60 seats is a tough one, according to the Nov. 21 report by the Chinese-language United Daily News. In some areas, such as the second constituency in Taipei County, the DPP candidate will have to face the nominee from their pan-green ally, the TSU. However, the DPP expressed confidence, expecting that the TSU supporters will turn to the DPP in the second ballot following the Nov. 8 defection of four incumbent TSU legislators to the DPP.
Although the KMT anticipates winning 68 seats, the situation is precarious, admitted Liao Feng-teh, the party's Organization and Development Committee chief, in a Nov. 20 CNA report. "We have taken the leading position in 44 constituencies, and fallen behind in 29 others. Things look better in northern Taiwan than in the southern regions," Liao said in a Nov. 21 report by the UDN.
The KMT's pan-blue ally, the New Party, becomes a rival while contesting the legislator-at-large seats. The Non-Partisan Solidarity Union also recommended its own legislator-at-large candidates, although it promised the KMT not to do so. The NPSU even recruited Christina Liu, an incumbent legislator from the People First Party, asking her to resign from her position Nov. 20 and become the first-place candidate for legislator at large of the NPSU. On the other hand, an advantage enjoyed by the KMT is that 62 of the 73 nominees named by the party are incumbent legislators.
After this election, the numbers of legislators will decrease to 113 from the current 225. This reduction in legislative seats aims to improve the quality of the Legislature and deliver a better government to the electorate. The term of these legislators will also be changed from three years to four, which will be the same as the president's, so as to synchronize the two elections and reduce cost.
The official list of candidates will be published Jan. 1 by the Central Election Commission.
Write to Amber Wu at amber0207@mail.gio.gov.tw