The removal of Han Kuo-yu as the mayor of Kaohsiung has once again manifested
the influence of the younger generation on elections nowadays. Politicians have to be aware of the fact that young voters will not give them a second chance. No matter it is the Kuomintang(KMT) who never stops alienating themselves from the young, orthe Democratic Progressive Party(DPP) who may fail to respect their support, the new generation is ready to pounce on them in full strength. And political stars who have once been embraced by them can easily lose their popularity and get casted aside as soon as their halos fade.

Although various polls prior to the recall voting have somehow predicted the
outcome, it was never supposed to be such a landslide. The threshold of 570,000
votes required to oust Han has been so easily exceeded, and ultimately 930,000
voters have backed his removal, even more than the 890,000 votes that got him
elected one and a half year ago. Viewing from the active participation of the
youngsters in pre-voting rally activities, the Taiwan High Speed Rail trains packed by them rushing down from the north to vote on that day as well as the sell-out of northbound train tickets on the day after, every evidence shows the younger generation has played a very vital role in the event.

As far as voting behavior is concerned, the older voters, bearing a lot of historical baggage and emotional bondage with them, tend to fall into the two-sided dilemma of blue versus green or reunification versus independence. Sometimes, subjective moral judgement and human relation factors affect their decision too. For instance, in Han’s case, some older voters have been convinced that Han was a victim of the media bought over and manipulated by his opposition, and they have shown reservation about punishing him with drastic ways such as deposing him.Regrettably, they tend to overlook the essence of the whole recall motion: political figures like Han must be accountable to the decisions they made.

In contrary, the younger generation, free from the influence of historical ties and traditional connections, simply requires political parties and leaders to keep their words. Han has in fact done everything to disgrace the young, from breaking his promise of not running for presidency to ruling with empty talks. Instead, by voting him out, the young rediscover their sense of glory and local identity, something fully expressed in their “My Pride. My Kaohsiung.” slogan during the process.

As the dust settles, it is time for the political parties to re-address their respective strategies in response to the emergence of the young voters. Surprisingly though, KMT leaders’ reactions to Han’s removal show that they are still in the same old mentality and have completely failed to learn lessons from it. Such an attitude will only further alienate them from the young.

Blaming their failure on the mudslinging of the DPP, Han and the KMT are still
entangled in the outdated mentality of antagonism between blue and green. In
reality, the core issue lies in “why someone like Han could be allowed to rise to the party’s candidate for presidency”. Unless the KMT finally decides to address it seriously, it will not have a chance to regain young people’s support and the party’s rising stars will never make their mark.

As for the DPP, it is true that they are relatively more committed to nurturing young talents inside their party and their polices such as legalizing same-sex marriage and safeguarding the sovereignty of Taiwan are more in line with the younger generation.

Nevertheless, it is worth reminding that Kaohsiung has once been the DPP’s
stronghold and it had been the apathy and arrogance of their administration that
brought Han to power. So make no mistake, the loss of Han does not mean the gain
of the DPP by default. The latter should never ever take the youngsters’ votes for granted.

Meanwhile, although the DPP has managed to win the presidential election again
and dominate in the Legislative Yuan, young voters have started witnessing
disappointing signs in recent developments. These include the conservative official appointments in the Executive Yuan, Examination Yuan and various state-owned enterprises, as well as the endless infighting in local divisions of the party. What the DPP should do is to learn from the failures of Chen Shui-bian’s second presidential term, otherwise they will finally be abandoned by the younger generation and follow the same disastrous road to ruin.

The dramatic rise and decline of Han serves as a revelation and warning to all
political leaders in Taiwan, including the seemingly popular Ko Wen-je. We are in an era that young voters emerge and they are no die-hard fans. After all, if they can vote you in today, they will be able to vote you out tomorrow.

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