Taiwan's Kuomintang barely held on to three of five mayoral posts up for grabs in tense elections yesterday, a day after the son of the party's honorary chairman was shot and badly wounded.
Analysts said the shooting factor added at least 3 to 5 per cent to votes cast for KMT candidates. The incident persuaded a number of supporters disappointed with the ruling party or its candidates to vote, helping secure the Taipei, Xinbei and Taichung cities the KMT controlled.
The pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party won 49.87 per cent of votes, compared with the KMT's 44.54 per cent. An academic said the results did not augur well for the KMT in the 2012 elections.
'This means a big problem for the KMT, which will be put to the test again in both the legislative and presidential elections in 2012,' said George Tsai Wei, a professor of political science at Chinese Cultural University in Taipei.
The elections, which cover more than 60 per cent of voters in Taiwan, were seen as a mid-term test of President Ma Ying-jeou and his mainland engagement policy.
Tsai said the results would help calm Beijing, which would not want to see any change in the power base of the KMT. 'Nor will it prompt Ma to change its current cross-strait policy, though he could opt for a slower pace in development of relations,' he said.