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TAIWAN: Presidential election
2012-01-14
2012-01-14
US/Eastern
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Country: 
China, Taiwan
Venue: 

Description: 

Description of government structure:

    * Chief of State: President MA Ying-jeou

    * Head of Government: Premier WU Den-yih

    * Assembly: Taiwan has a unicameral Legislative Yuan with 113 seats.

 

Description of electoral system:

    * The President is elected by popular vote to serve a 4-year term.

    * The Premier is appointed by the President.

    * In the Legislative Yuan, 73 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms, 34 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms and 6 members are elected by single non-transferable vote to serve 4-year terms.***

 

Main Candidates in the Presidential race:

  •     MA Ying-jeou, Chinese Nationalist Party / Kuomintang 中國國民黨 (KMT)
  •     TSAI Ing-wen, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) / 民主進步黨: Mínzhǔ jìnbù dǎng
  •     James SOONG Chu-yu, People First Party (PFP) / 親民黨

Comments

Comment by CRosario on Wed, 2012-01-18 19:55.
Tsai highlights her role as a woman in electoral campaign

There are many ways that gender can play a role in an election, particularly in the high profile context of a presidential election such as the recent Taiwanese election. Some of these are

  • A candidate can highlight their own gender, particularly in the case of women, to demonstrate unique qualities and qualifications
  • An opposing candidate or media outlets can attempt to detract from a candidate on the basis of their gender, sometimes by belittling them by using gender discriminatory remarks
  • Voters can be motivated to vote for or against a candidate based on gender, or not acknowledge the issue at all in their decision making.

In the case of the Taiwanese presidential election on January 14th, Tsai Ing-wen did employ gender in her messaging as a strength of her candidacy.  According to this article from MY Sinchew, Tsai is quoted saying "Our society will be more harmonious and our country will be more united with a woman in charge."  She is drawing on characteristics commonly associated with women as unifiers and peacemakers to differentiate herself from her opponent. 

The polling for the election was very close, but Tsai did not come out victorious.  The incumbent Ma won with a reported 51.6% of the vote compared to 45.6 for Tsai, according to the National Post. This small margin was much tighter than the 2008 election where Ma won by a 17% margin over the opposition party.  This could be seen as a small victory for Tsai, in that her party has become more relevant to Taiwan voters, also picking up a number of seats in the legislature. Tsai took responsibility for the loss and resigned as head of her party folowing the election.

Click here to join the conversation about Women Heads of State.

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Comment by Sofhalling on Thu, 2012-01-12 12:32.
First woman running for president, still gender is not an issue

According to a recent article from chanelnewsasia, gender is not an issue in the upcoming election in Taiwan, even a woman is a candidate for the presidency for the first time. Any thoughts?

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