Changing fortunes across the Taiwan strait

The weekend's presidential elections in Taiwan, the fourth direct elections in this island from 1996, surprised few people, with the more charismatic candidate Ma Ying-jeou winning the post of President. Change is the watchword in these elections with portends clear since the beginning of the year.

The January 12 legislative elections gave the nationalist Kuomintang party nearly 72 percent of the votes.  With Ma's election now, the KMT will have the unique distinction of having an absolute majority in the executive and legislative wings of Taiwan. Also, with the two referendums unable to muster a majority of Taiwanese support, the KMT will be relatively free to deal with China and other countries.

Nearly 13 out of 17 million Taiwan's eligible voters (out of its nearly 22 million population) voted in about 14,000 polling booths -- accounting for nearly 76 percent of voter turnout, compared to a slightly more turnout in the previous presidential elections held in 2004. The KMT presidential and vice presidential candidates Ma Ying-jeou and Vincent Siew bagged 58 percent of the votes (more than 9 percent swing in their favour as compared to 2004 elections), while the Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Frank Hsieh and his vice presidential candidate Su Tseng-chang could get only 41 percent of the votes (about 9 percent less compared to their win in the 2004 elections).

With these elections, the Taiwanese appeared to have signaled that they would like to continue a status quo in China-Taiwan cross-Straits relations. The elections indicated that Taiwan is indecisive when it comes to its future course of action, with the defeat of the two referendums aimed at addressing its candidature in the United Nations. The DPP's efforts to enter the UN under the name Taiwan, and the KMT's efforts to enter the UN under the name of ROC -- both failed.