Yesterday's court ruling on the mayoral election in Kaohsiung boosted the morale of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party ahead of the coming legislative and presidential elections, but it could be a double-edged sword.
After her election victory was annulled by the district court in June for campaign irregularities, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu of the pro-independence DPP won an appeal yesterday, enabling her to stay on as mayor.
But analysts said the result might not be totally advantageous to the DPP as it would unite opposition supporters against the party during the legislative and presidential elections next year.
'Actually it is not that bad for the KMT as the ruling will create a pendulum effect, allowing the KMT to consolidate support and win sympathy votes in the legislative elections in January and presidential election in March,' said political commentator Chen Yan-po.
He said the DPP had originally hoped to capitalise on Ms Chen's defeat in the lawsuit, using it to achieve internal unity and solicit sympathy votes ahead of the crucial polls. 'It is now the turn for the KMT to do so,' said the commentator.
The DPP has seen a growing rift within the party over different mainland policy directions among its leaders, including President Chen Shui-bian, DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh Chang-ting and former DPP chairman Yu Shyi-kun. Mr Chen opts for a restrictive mainland policy and has several times slapped Mr Hsieh down by overriding his proposals for more liberal mainland strategies. The discord has seriously hurt the unity of the party.
