Beijing sees ‘hope and opportunity’ in DPP’s weak Taiwan election result
- Mainland analysts predict DPP’s fall in popularity will constrain any attempt by William Lai Ching-te to pursue an independence agenda
- The checks and balances of the opposition parties in the new legislature are likely to become a headache for Lai, they say
Lai, from the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), would be “the weakest president” in almost two decades, with any effort to promote an independence agenda likely to be challenged and contained, both at home and outside, they said.
The result was the second-lowest share of the vote for an elected president since 1996 and marked a sharp loss of 2.58 million supporters for the DPP compared with four years ago. The party also lost its majority in the legislative elections held on the same day.
Shanghai Institute of Taiwan Studies director Ni Yongjie said 60 per cent of voters wanted to remove the DPP from power “and the future focus of Taiwan’s politics will be in the legislature after the DPP had suffered heavy losses there”.
“Lai only kept the [DPP’s] base after his party had tried all the measures to divide his opponents … It also proves that the DPP was not united and Lai himself lacked political power within his party,” he said.