Presidential elections were held in Taiwan on 22 March 2008.http://udn.com/NEWS/NATIONAL/NAT1/3918552.shtml Kuomintang (KMT) nominee Ma Ying-jeou won with 58% of the vote, ending eight years of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) rule. Along with the 2008 legislative election, Ma's landslide victory brought the Kuomintang back to power in the Republic of China.https://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/taiwan/2008/taiwan-080322-cna02.htm Decisive election win puts KMT back in power
This was the fourth direct election for the President of the Republic of China. The two candidates were Democratic Progressive Party candidate Frank Hsieh and Kuomintang (KMT) nominee Ma Ying-jeou. The KMT ticket was officially formed as of June 23, 2007, with Ma announcing his choice for running mate to be former premier Vincent Siew. The DPP ticket was announced in August, 2007, with Frank Hsieh selecting former Premier Su Tseng-chang. Unlike the 2004 presidential election, the political rhetoric of the campaigns tended to focus on economic issues and government corruption rather than national identity and the political status of Taiwan, with both candidates endorsing the status quo in the short term. But much like previous elections, this election was also marked with island-wide mass rallies and much political mudslinging.
The KMT ticket received a larger percentage and more votes than any other candidate in the previous three direct presidential elections. The election occurred as incumbent President Chen Shui-bian's popularity remained at record lows following mass rallies in September 2006 urging him to resign amid implications of corruption. Amid general economic malaise, as unemployment had risen under Chen's presidency and Taiwan's per capita GDP was surpassed by that of South Korea, Ma won on a platform of economic revitalization and a promise to improve cross-straits relations as "a peacemaker not a troublemaker". The election occurred in the wake of the KMT's landslide victory in the 2008 legislative elections in which the Pan-Blue Coalition won a three-quarters majority in the Legislative Yuan. On the same day two referendums on joining the United Nations, the first supported by the DPP of President Chen and the second supported by the KMT, failed due to low turnout. Prior to the vote, the KMT had encouraged its supporters to boycott the DPP referendum, and expressed its "understanding" if supporters boycotted both.
Presidential nominees Candidates were to register with their respective parties March 5–9, 2007, for a primary election. Selection of candidates for President in Taiwan, unlike most other nations, were weighed; the actual primary election results accounted for 30% of the final outcome while public opinion polls accounted for the other 70%. Final tallies were announced May 30, 2007.
Democratic Progressive Party
Leading candidates for the Democratic Progressive Party "Four Heavenly Kings" (a less literal translation in English that perhaps gives the meaning more clearly is the "Four Heavyweights") sans incumbent President Chen Shui-bian (who was barred from running due to term limits)—Frank Hsieh, Su Tseng-chang, and Yu Shyi-kun—and incumbent vice president Annette Lu. All three of the men had served as premier under Chen Shui-bian and as DPP chairman during part of the Chen presidency. In addition, Hsieh has been a popular mayor of Kaohsiung, Su has been county magistrate of Taipei County and Pingtung County, and Yu served as Secretary-General in the Office of the President.
On May 6, 2007, the DPP primaries took place in all 24 cities and counties in Taiwan. There were 254,963 eligible voters, with voter turnout at 56.06%. Former premier Frank Hsieh emerged as the winner of the DPP primaries, winning 17 of 24 cities and counties with 62,849 votes, about 44% of the votes cast.Adams, Jonathan "Taiwan's 'superstars' to battle it out" Asia Times, Jan 9, 2007 Despite the fact that the primary results only account for 30% of the final outcome in determining the nominee, fellow DPP candidates Su, who got 46,994 votes; Yu, with 22,211 votes; and Lu with 8,666 votes, endorsed Hsieh before the second stage primary, based on opinion polls, was held, causing the DPP to cancel the second stage primary."Frank Hsieh Confirmed as DPP Standard Bearer", The China Post May 8, 2007
The junior partner in the pan-green coalition, the Taiwan Solidarity Union, neither fielded nor endorsed a candidate. TSU Chairman Shu Chin-chiang seemingly endorsed Ma on September 19, 2007 when he referred to Ma as "our President-to-be." At the same time, several TSU legislators stated that they would support DPP candidate Frank Hsieh.等扁點頭 謝暫緩中部行程, Liberty Times, 10/5/07 In December, Lee Teng-hui, considered the "spiritual leader" of the TSU, rescinded his support of Chen in 2004, and urged citizens against voting for the DPP in upcoming legislative elections. While Lee openly denounced supporting the ruling DPP party, he stopped short of endorsing any party or candidate and waited until March 20, 2008 (two days before the election) to endorse Hsieh."Taiwan Ex-President Lee Severs Ties With President Chen - AFP"
Democratic Progressive nominees 2008 Democratic Progressive ticketfor Presidentfor Vice President President of the Executive Yuan(2005–2006) President of the Executive Yuan(2006–2007)
Kuomintang
Following the KMT's defeat in 2004 and before the 2005 KMT chairman election, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou and Legislative Yuan President Wang Jin-pyng were both considered leading candidates for the nomination. Ma's landslide victory over Wang in the 2005 KMT chairman election immediately made him the frontrunner. His position was furthered bolstered by the KMT's victories in the 2005 3-in-1 local elections. Ma Ying-jeou began his campaign before his announcement for candidacy, taking trips Europe and Japan in 2006, nominally to obtain business deals for Taipei, but covered widely by the media for his foreign policy remarks. He met with numerous politicians in Washington, DC, including U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick. Significantly, Ma Ying-jeou became the first head of a pan-Blue coalition party to state that declaring de jure Taiwanese independence was a legitimate choice of the Taiwanese people, though he qualified it saying that this was not a position of the KMT, after receiving much criticism from pan-Blue politicians. He also stated that Taiwan should form a common market with mainland China and establish direct transportation links.
On February 13, 2007 Ma was indicted for misuse of official funds as Taipei Mayor and announced his candidacy as he resigned the KMT chairmanship. He was formally nominated as the KMT candidate on May 2, 2007. Wang did not run against Ma, who was virtually unopposed. Final approval of the nomination was passed by the KMT congress in June. Wang was an early frontrunner to be Ma's running-mate but declined the position absent of assurances from Ma of what responsibilities he would hold as vice president. Other leading candidates were Wu Den-yih, incumbent KMT general secretary; Jason Lin, CEO of Uni-President Group; and Tsai Ing-wen, a DPP member and former vice-premier. On June 23, 2007, Ma officially announced former premier and former vice-presidential candidate (in 2000) Vincent Siew as his running mate, praising Siew's economic experience and declaring the economy to be the central focus of his campaign.
Neither the New Party nor the People First Party, junior partners of the KMT in the "Pan-Blue Coalition," fielded a candidate and endorsed the KMT ticket. PFP Chairman James Soong appeared at KMT headquarters once Ma's victory became apparent and pledged to dissolve the PFP to join the KMT.
Kuomintang nominees 2008 Kuomintang ticketfor Presidentfor Vice President Mayor of Taipei(1998–2006) President of the Executive Yuan(1997–2000)
Issues Tens of thousands of Taiwanese waved banners and shouted political slogans March 16, 2008, as the island's rival parties rallied support ahead of the March 22, 2008 presidential elections, with the March 2008 violence in Tibet in the background and Taiwan's own relations with the China on the front burner. The Taiwan-wide events were meant to energize supporters in the home stretch of a race that has so far lacked the passion and commitment of presidential elections in 2000 and 2004.
Economy Since selecting Vincent Siew as his running mate, Ma announced that the focus of his election campaign was the recovery of the Taiwanese economy. He said that the independence—unification debate is a "fake issue" with no bearing on the general welfare of the Taiwanese people. He also labeled Siew as the would-be "chief architect" to revive the economy, because of Siew's solid economic background.
Ma proposed a common market with China; Hsieh said this would lead to job losses and importation of dangerous Chinese products, referring to lead-contaminated toys from Mattel and an excess of highly qualified workers from China.
Corruption
The investigations into alleged misuse of funds by members of both the KMT and DPP were another hot topic.
President Chen Shui-Bian suffered a large loss in popularity due to corruption allegations concerning his family. The KMT attempted to capitalize on Ma's public image as a man of integrity, which stemmed from his investigations into vote-buying within his own party while he served as Justice Minister in the early 1990s. Ma resigned as Justice Minister in the mid-1990s and his political career was considered to be over due to what some thought was his zealous investigation of corruption. However, Ma Ying-Jeou was indicted on charges of misusing his mayoral discretionary funds, which was intended for funding personal expenses related to official duties. Ma moved half of the funds into his personal accounts, and his defense was that this practice was standard among government officials. Ma maintained his innocence and stated that the indictment amounted to political prosecution and he would not give up his run for presidency even if found guilty.
DPP candidate Frank Hsieh came under investigation for similar charges in irregularity and misuse of funds while he served as mayor of Kaohsiung. However, different from Ma, Hsieh stated that if he was found guilty in his mayoral funds case, he would not continue running for president.
On August 12, 2007, Ma was acquitted of misusing the funds, but one of his office clerks was found guilty and faced a year in prison for his own failures in administrative duties.
Status of Taiwan As is common with Taiwanese elections, an important issue in the election is the future political status of Taiwan and maintenance of good cross-straits relations and avoidance of war with China (PRC). In general, the DPP favors Taiwan independence; the KMT, on the other hand, promotes the one-China principle and desires eventual unification of Taiwan with mainland China, as the KMT still regards the ROC as the sole legitimate government of China. The KMT's main objective is to establish a closer economic relationship with mainland China. It was widely recognized that no candidate could win without supporting the status quo of de facto autonomy and ambiguous legal status (as they did in 2004) in order to attract centrist voters. Also, in 2004, both mainstream candidates recognized eventual unification and independence as a possible option as a means to attract the center. The strategy of both sides, as was the case in 2004, was to persuade voters that it can best maintain the status quo and protect Taiwan from coerced unification by China.