Landslide Victory for the Kuomintang: Taiwan’s Legislative Elections of January 2008

Taiwan elected its new parliament according to new rules which, for the former opposition party, KMT, augmented a majority of roughly 50 percent of the votes to more than two-thirds of the seats. As a detailed look at the figures reveals, this landslide victory was not due to a loss on the> side of the ruling DPP but rather to the ability of the KMT to pool the votes of smaller parties and independents. The DPP failed in this respect, mainly due to the decision of its chairman, Taiwan’s incumbent president Chen Shui-bian, to focus the campaign on themes of Taiwanese national identity. In contrast, the KMT campaign addressed the economy and other more down-to-earth and local themes. Since the parliamentary elections were held only two months before the election of a new president, they appear to be the first phase of a power change which will very likely lead to a victory for the KMT candidate, Ma Ying-jeou.