Ruling DPP begins soul-searching after election setback

TAIPEI (TVBS News) —The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) won in a landslide on Saturday (Nov. 26).  In contrast, the mood at the ruling party's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) headquarters was quite low with supporters extremely disappointed by the results of local elections.

According to analysts, the DPP has a lot of soul-searching to do following the painful loss.

President Tsai Ing-wen, who also served as the chairwoman of the DPP, announced her resignation that night, offering to bear responsibility for the less-than-desired election results.

Many believe that she has failed her mid-term "report card," but exactly what mistakes were made by the DPP?

According to DPP Taipei City Elected Councilor Vincent Chao, lessons will be learned from the results this time around. "Not only including, for example our candidates but also our policies, as well as our overall election tempo," he remarked.

During election rallies, the DPP repeatedly stressed how the international audience is closely monitoring. They indicated that if results were not in favor of the ruling party, other democracies might have second thoughts on Taiwan, thinking that the self-governing population is steering towards pro-Beijing.

Still, Chao believes otherwise.

"The issues that were prevalent in these local elections and that the vast majority of voters were looking into, I think, is not directly correlated with national security, cross-strait," he said. "I do think voters care more about what's happening here at home."

However, the next real focus is the upcoming battle next year, as Taiwan votes for its new President in early January 2024.

The President is in charge of shaping foreign and military policies, while the international rhetoric is sometimes very skeptical of the KMT.

Beyond the results of the ruling and opposition parties, today's local elections demonstrate how democracy is strong in Taiwan despite the soaring tensions across the Taiwan Strait.