People First Party (Taiwan)
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The People First Party (PFP, ) is a
centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the l ...
or
centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...
political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
in the
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
(Taiwan).


History

The PFP was founded by
James Soong James Soong Chu-yu (born 16 March 1942) is a Taiwanese politician. He is the founder and current Chairman of the People First Party. Born to a Kuomintang military family of Hunanese origin, Soong began his political career as a secretary to ...
and his supporters after his failed independent bid for the presidency in 2000. Soong himself is the chairman, and dominates much of its politics. The name of the party, ''People First'' (親民), has
Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...
connotations.親民 literally means "to be close to the people." The
Great Learning The ''Great Learning'' or ''Daxue'' was one of the "Four Books" in Confucianism attributed to one of Confucius' disciples, Zengzi. The ''Great Learning'' had come from a chapter in the ''Book of Rites'' which formed one of the Five Classics. I ...
states, "What the Great Learning teaches, is—to illustrate illustrious virtue; to renovate the people; and to rest in the highest excellence" (Tr.
Legge Legge is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Alexander Legge (1866–1933), US businessman, president of International Harvester * Anthony Legge (1939–2013), British archaeologist specialized in zooarchaeology *Arthur Kaye Legge ...
, 大學之道明明德,在親民,在止於至善。)
The official goals of PFP, as regards to cross-strait relationships and diplomacy, is for the ROC to: participate in more international organizations, promote Chinese culture overseas and seek economic and cultural interaction between Taiwan and the mainland. Its views are seen as generally favorable towards
Chinese unification Chinese unification, also known as the Cross-Strait unification or Chinese reunification, is the potential unification of territories currently controlled, or claimed, by the People's Republic of China ("China" or "Mainland China") and the ...
and staunchly against
Taiwan independence Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
. The party maintains a close but tense relationship with the
Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
(KMT) as part of the
pan-blue coalition The pan-Blue coalition, pan-Blue force or pan-Blue groups is a political coalition in the Republic of China (Taiwan) consisting of the Kuomintang (KMT), People First Party (PFP), New Party (CNP), Non-Partisan Solidarity Union (NPSU), and Young ...
. However, since PFP had, like the New Party, grown out of the KMT, the two parties had to compete for the same set of voters. This dynamic in which both the KMT and PFP must simultaneously compete and cooperate with each other has led to complex and interesting politics. In several notable cases, this has led to situations in which both parties have run candidates, but close to the election the party with the less popular candidate unofficially dropped out of the race. This in turn has led to some notable situations when either the PFP or the KMT has campaigned against its own candidate, which has led to intra-party resentment. To avoid a repeat of this effect, which led to the election of
Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a Taiwanese nationalist and centre-left political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Controlling both the Republic of China presidency and the unicameral Legislative Yuan, it is the majori ...
candidate
Chen Shui-bian Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whic ...
to the presidency in 2000 by a low share of votes, Chairman Soong ran as vice-president on KMT Chairman
Lien Chan Lien Chan (; born 27 August 1936) is a Taiwanese politician. He was the Chairman of the Taiwan Provincial Government from 1990 to 1993, Premier of the Republic of China from 1993 to 1997, Vice President of the Republic of China from 1996 to 20 ...
's presidential ticket in the 2004 presidential election. After his defeat in
Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...
mayoral election on 9 December 2006, Soong announced that he would retire from politics. At this point, with no clear goals, the PFP faced an uncertain future, and considered merging with the Kuomintang (KMT). After much negotiation, the PFP and the KMT did not merge.


Presidential bids

In September 2011, James Soong mounted the PFP's first presidential bid and selected academic
Ruey-Shiung Lin Lin Ruey-shiung (; born 17 December 1938) is a Taiwanese physician and professor in public health. He was the vice presidential nominee of the People First Party ticket for the 2012 Taiwan presidential race, running with James Soong. Prior to ...
to be his running mate for the
2012 election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: ...
, collecting enough signatures to make it on the ballot. While analysts feared that a PFP run would split the Pan-Blue Coalition vote and hand a winnable election to the DPP (as was the case in the 2000 Presidential election), Soong insisted that his campaign was a serious one and that he would complete his run. On election day, the Soong-Lin ticket underperformed and garnered 2.77% of votes, while
Ma Ying-jeou Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, 馬英九, born 13 July 1950) is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese politician who served as president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. Previously, he served as justice minister from 1993 to 1996 and mayor of Taipei from ...
of the KMT defeated
Tsai Ing-wen Tsai Ing-wen (; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician serving as president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2016. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Tsai is the first female president of Taiwan. She served as ...
of the DPP by a margin of 51.60% to 45.63%. In the concurrent legislative election the PFP won 5.46% of the party-list vote, gaining them 2 seats in the
Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel v ...
, and in addition won 1 district seat for a total of 3 seats. Soong would launch presidential bids in
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
and
2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
as well. In 2016 he would garner 12.84% of the vote, compared with 31.04% going to
Eric Chu Eric Chu Li-luan (; born on 7 June 1961) is a Taiwanese politician. He was born into a political family with strong Kuomintang (KMT) ties, and served as Vice Premier of the Republic of China, under Premier Wu Den-yih. Prior to this, Chu served ...
of the KMT and 56.12% going to
Tsai Ing-wen Tsai Ing-wen (; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician serving as president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2016. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Tsai is the first female president of Taiwan. She served as ...
of the DPP. In 2020 he would garner 4.26% of the vote, compared with 38.61% going to
Han Kuo-yu Daniel Han Kuo-yu (; born 17 June 1957) is a Taiwanese politician. He was a member of the Legislative Yuan from 1993 to 2002, representing a portion of Taipei County for three terms. He later became general manager of Taipei Agricultural Produc ...
of the KMT and 57.13% going to
Tsai Ing-wen Tsai Ing-wen (; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician serving as president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2016. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Tsai is the first female president of Taiwan. She served as ...
of the DPP. In 2016 they would maintain their seats in the legislature; however, in 2020, the PFP failed to meet the 5% threshold for party-list representation and also did not win any district seats, and was no longer represented in the
Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel v ...
. Prior to the election result in 2020, James Soong announced that his 2020 bid would be his last, throwing the future of the party into question.


Election results


Presidential elections


Legislative elections


Local elections


National Assembly elections


See also

*
Politics of the Republic of China The Republic of China (Chinese: 中華民國政治, Pinyin: ''Zhōnghuá Mínguó de zhèngzhì'') (commonly known as Taiwan) is governed in a framework of a Representative democracy, representative democratic republic under a Five-Power ...
*
Elections in Taiwan There are eleven types of elections in Taiwan which, since 2012, have been unified into general and local elections, each held every four years, typically in January and November respectively. There may also be by-elections. Electoral systems incl ...
*
List of political parties in Taiwan This article lists the political parties in the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 7 December 1949. The organization of political parties in Taiwan is governed by the Political Parties Act, enacted on 6 December 2017. The Political Parties Act de ...


Notes


References


External links


People First Party Official Website
{{Taiwanese political parties Political parties in Taiwan Conservative parties in Taiwan Liberal conservative parties Centre-right parties in Asia Centrist parties in Asia Political parties established in 2000 2000 establishments in Taiwan