Lessons to learn from Taiwan mayoral elections
Updated: 2014-12-05 08:25
By Raymond So(HK Edition)
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Last week's Taiwanese mayoral elections resulted in a major defeat for the ruling Kuomintang (KMT). Among the key municipalities, the KMT were only able to win in New Taipei City. It was badly defeated in Taipei. Although a KMT candidate could yet win the New Taipei City mayoral elections, votes for the party fell dramatically. Voter discontent was clearly reflected in poll results. Taichung mayor Jason Hu, who had held office for 13 years, also lost. For the election of the Taipei mayor, the number of KMT votes was significantly less than those received by the winner, Dr Ko Wen-je. The 55-year-old was elected independent Taipei mayor on Nov 29.
There is now speculation that the "presidential" election in two years may also prove disappointing for the KMT.
There had been earlier indications of an impending KMT defeat, as the KMT candidates were behind in the polls. The KMT candidate for Taipei mayor, Sean Lien, comes from a rich family and is probably seen by some as spoilt and privileged. He once lived in a luxurious mansion and enjoyed top positions with international financial institutions. This gives people the impression Lien does not understand the problems facing ordinary people. The ruling KMT also showed it was out of touch with ordinary Taiwan people. Under KMT rule, voter dissatisfaction has been high. When Taiwan's leader Ma Ying-Jeou gets less than 10 percent support from the public, there is clearly widespread voter discontent with the ruling party. This is not merely an issue concerning individual candidates, it is a systemic problem.
Hong Kong people have watched the Taiwan elections closely. The two places enjoy a close relationship. Hong Kong and Taiwan also face similar challenges. Politicians from Hong Kong and Taiwan regularly exchange visits to learn from one another. So having a good understanding of the Taiwan mayoral elections is important for Hong Kong.
Hong Kong and Taiwan have many similarities. Both places face the same problems such as a growing wealth gap, discontent among young people over lack of upward social mobility, the difficulties of buying a home, social injustice, and so on. These problems in Hong Kong have now reached a critical point. The "Occupy Central" campaign expresses mainly political demands, but discontent with the status quo is clearly one of the key reasons for the movement.
These problems are also more complicated than they seem. If they were easy to resolve, Hong Kong would not have experienced so much political and social discontent recently. When the economy was booming in the pre-1997 era, many issues could be easily resolved. But the post-1997 Asian financial crisis resulted in a new paradigm. When the economy recovered, people felt the old system of economic development was all about supporting the power of a few tycoons. People started to question the market-driven approach - especially the younger generation. Young people have not experienced the pre-1997 period. Their understanding of society is generally derived from social conditions post-1997. If we still use the old methods in dealing with social problems, many young people believe this only protects the powerful, and not them. This makes them more vulnerable to the influence of radical elements.
Today, we live in the age of the Internet and networking on various social media. This phenomenon was evident in Ko Wen-je becoming the new mayor of Taipei. A similar situation is likely to occur in Hong Kong.
Getting young people involved in political and social issues in future, is important. Ko Wen-je in his post-election speech said he would be more sensitive to public opinion. The greater inclusion of public opinion in the decision-making process is the key to successful governance. People in power need to show more humility.
The author is dean of School of Business at Hang Seng Management College.
(HK Edition 12/05/2014 page10)