Taiwan's 2012 Presidential Election

The election ended a week ago with the re-election of the incumbent president, Ma Ying-jeou. It was an emotional and enthusiastic campaign for the opposition party because the Taiwanese people were and still are unhappy with the administration. The final vote count was larger than expected (797,561 votes; 51.6% vs. 45.6%). The media and all parties had expected the result to be much closer in this tightly contested election. Nevertheless, the incumbent had lost over half of the popular vote that elected him to his first term. He received 58.45% of votes, and the other candidate received 41.55% of votes, Ma won by over 2 million votes four years ago. The economy slowed during his term, as global recession affected Taiwanese economy. Below are the issues that became central to the election:

- China-Taiwan relations (cross-strait relations)
- Growing income gap between the rich and the poor (although some economic statics showed Taiwan's economy growing)
- Low employment rates of (college-graduate) young people
- Rising cost of living
- Monthly stipend for (old) retired farmers

Most television talk show speakers (reporters) and non-Taiwanese media agree that the China-Taiwan relations determined the outcome of the election. My observations and conversation with relatives and friends in Taiwan reveal a more complex picture. I do not think most of the people who voted for Ma Ying-jeou favored a closer China-Taiwan relations. I think most of them either 1) still associate the opposing party, Democratic Progressive Party, as a party of corruption with the influence of the previous president Chen Shui-bian (there are many problematic points with this association and assumption), or 2) have an almost-perfect view of President Ma because the media, of which over 80% supported his party, packaged him as a nice, thrifty, handsome man with a thrifty and strict wife.

Factors that affected the outcome of the election:
- Massive negative campaigns attacking the character of the other candidate, Tsai Ing-wen, and the character of her party, Democratic Progressive Party, by the incumbent office and the ruling party

- Massive advertisements of "good policies" from various departments (such as agriculture, fishery, health, and retirement) from the Executive Yuan office 行政院

- The Chinese government used economic (political) means to influence Taiwan's presidential election this time, more strongly and visible than before. It reduced airfare for Taiwanese businesspeople and their Taiwanese employees to fly back to Taiwan for the election. The Chinese government also pressured many major Taiwanese businesspeople with investments and factories in China to publicly support President Ma's close economic (and political?) ties with China, the so-called "1992 Consensus." This "consensus" was supposed formed in 1992, which China stated that both sides agree that there is one China 各表一中, but Taiwan suggested that there are different China's 一中各表. Many Taiwanese businesspeople publicly supported the "1992 consensus" in the week leading up to the election.

- Douglas H. Paal, former director (2002-2006) of American Institute of Taiwan (AIT, the de-factor American embassy in Taiwan), publicly said that Ma Ying-jeou the incumbent president is the preferred candidate of the American government. His statement was inappropriate because his statement became the unofficial official stance of the U.S. government. No one, including the U.S. government (and the Chinese government), should interfere in the democratic election of another state.

These factors resulted in the re-election of the incumbent president, even though more than half of the population were and still are unsatisfied with his first term.

This election served as a lesson for the incumbent administration and the ruling party to get their acts together to begin working on policies that would benefit the majority of the people, middle and lower class people, college graduates, the old and the poor, and those living outside of Taipei the capital city. President Ma's party controlled over 75% of the Legislative Yuan branch in the last four years. This election reduced its seats to 61%. The opposing party, although in defeat, had gained the momentum during this election through its presidential candidate, Tsai Ing-wen, in gaining the support of youth people and some support her party lost in 2008. Even though ideology still influenced this election, I saw a trend of more people began to pay attention to "real life" issues.