LOCAL ELECTIONS A SETBACK FOR PRESIDENT MA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 001437 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/07/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM CH TW SUBJECT: LOCAL ELECTIONS A SETBACK FOR PRESIDENT MA Classified By: Director Bill Stanton for reasons: 1.4 b/d ¶1. (C) Summary: The results of December 5 elections for 17 city mayors and county magistrates were a political setback for President Ma Ying-jeou and could have implications for his controversial opening to China. In capturing nearly as many votes as Ma's ruling Kuomintang (KMT),the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) reestablished itself as a strong political force going into next year's more important municipal elections. At least one respected academic predicted China now would reach out to the traditionally hostile DPP in the coming year in recognition of the party's renewed viability. End Summary. -------------- THE RESULTS ARE IN -------------- ¶2. (C) Taiwan voters elected 17 city mayors and county magistrates as well as numerous lower-level local officials on December 5. The KMT won 12 of the marquee races but lost two important magistracies, one to a rebel candidate who split from the party and another to the DPP, which also hung on to the three magistracies it already governed in the south. The KMT share of overall votes declined from 49.8 percent four years earlier to 47.9 percent, while the DPP share increased by seven percentage points to 45.3 percent. Not only did the opposition party win back the Yilan County magistracy from the KMT incumbent, but its candidates ran suprisingly strong races in a number of KMT strongholds where light turnout suggested a lack of enthusiasm among some ruling party supporters. Although local issues typically dominate city and county races, the DPP campaign focused on making the elections a referendum on Ma's government. KMT spokesman Lee Chien-jung acknowledged that DPP criticism of the government's handling of expanding U.S. beef imports and of the proposed Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement with China struck a chord in rural southern Taiwan, where the opposition party remains strongest, but overall he said these issues were not "decisive." -------------- A SETBACK FOR PRESIDENT MA -------------- ¶3. (C) The vote was a setback for Ma, whose political coattails were, to say the least, pretty short. Three magistrate candidates for whom he campaigned tirelessly were badly defeated: the KMT incumbent in Yilan and two political novices nominated by the KMT in Hualien and Yunlin counties. �0A;All three were seen as untainted candidates who fit Ma's efforts to cleanse the party of endemic corruption and influence among venal local factions. The Hualien defeat was particularly painful; the winner was a candidate who broke away from the KMT after being denied the nomination because of his conviction on insider trading charges. ¶4. (C) After the election, Ma refused to acknowledge defeat, instead insisting the results were not "ideal" because of a difficult political climate featuring the global financial crisis and high jobless rate. He vowed that the party would stick to the principle of "clean politics" in future elections, and party spokesman Lee said that cleaning up the party would require "paying a price in the short term." Despite grumbling from within the party about a nomination process that did not always stress electability, the blue-leaning political analyst Raymond Wu did not foresee any immediate challenge to Ma's supremacy within the party. As party chairman, Ma will continue to wield decisive power in determining who will run for the KMT in five municipal elections next year that are more important because of the larger electorate. Wu believed that prospective candidates would be unlikely to criticize Ma publicly; in addition, there was no obvious alternative to Ma as head of the party. -------------- A STEP FORWARD FOR THE DPP -------------- ¶5. (C) After two disastrous elections in 2008 in which the DPP lost the presidency and was reduced to less than a quarter of Legislative Yuan seats, the results of these local elections represented a welcome rebound. Still, party leaders were reluctant to read too much into the results. "It's certainly a victory but a minor one," said Bi-Khim Hsiao, Director of the DPP Department of International Affairs. "Our confidence is back. We are on a rebound track." The DPP hopes to make further gains early next year in a handful of legislative by-elections and also sees a strong opportunity in the municipal elections next December, two of which are in the southern party strongholds of Kaohsiung and Tainan and TAIPEI 00001437 002 OF 002 two of which are in the often competitive Taipei metropolitan region. Party Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen's stock appears to have shot up, and immediately after the election attention focused on whether she would run next year for mayor of Taipei City, which has been the political launching pad for the past two presidents. -------------- THE CHINA SYNDROME -------------- ¶6. (C) The DPP insisted its strong showing was partly a result of voter unease over the speed with which President Ma has approached improving relations with China, particularly on economic issues. Hsiao said all of the many DPP campaign events she attended included pointed criticism of Ma's approach. She said Taiwan's people had yet to reap economic benefits from the rapprochement and were truly concerned whether Ma was going to "sell out" the island to China. Wu, the political analyst from Fu Jen Catholic University, said he did not expect any major changes in the Ma administration's China policy but believed there could be a temporary pause in some activity, such as political discussions among academics from both sides of the Strait. KMT spokesman Lee said there would be no change in cross-Strait policy, and did not foresee the DPP getting mileage out of the issue during next year's elections because urban voters tended to have an "international perspective." ¶7. (C) Wu also argued that the election served notice to Beijing that the DPP remained a viable player in Taiwan politics, adding that he would not be surprised if China reached out to the opposition party, perhaps by inviting one of its leaders to visit. Former Vice President Annette Lu has expressed a willingness to go to China, but according to Hsiao has yet to be invited. -------------- - COMMENT: A MINOR TREMOR, BUT WHAT WILL FOLLOW? -------------- - ¶8. (C) The local elections did not register particularly high on Taiwan's political Richter scale, but they did signal possibly bigger rumblings to come in next year's municipal election and beyond. The DPP appears to have emerged from the shadow of former President Chen Shui-bian, whose corruption conviction seriously damaged the party's reputation. It still faces further rebuilding tasks, including fielding strong candidates for next year and outlining party policies on issues such as economic recovery and cross-Strait relations. In the KMT, Ma likely will be under pressure to focus more on electability than cleanliness in choosing candidates. Wu also believes the voters sent Ma a message to "stay the course but trim the sails." The problem isn't so much the direction of policy, he explained, but the administration's non-transparent and non-inclusive policy deliberations that leave the electorate wondering what's really up. STANTON