Relief as Taiwanese democratic test passes peacefully

The rain that swept the city streets, blurring lights and muffling the blare of klaxons, perhaps helped to dampen passions.

At Kuomintang's Taipei headquarters the victors cheered in relief as much as in celebration. Across town, the defeated opposition's supporters seemed subdued.

Taiwanese politics are vibrant, emotional, sometimes dirty and occasionally violent.

Some might have expected stronger reactions after a race too close to call culminated in this weekend's re-election of incumbent Ma Ying Jeou, who has overseen an unprecedented rapprochement with China.

But the muted response to his victory - he took 51.6 per cent of the vote to challenger Tsai Ing Wen's 45.6 per cent - echoed a calm campaign.

Some observers think this youthful democracy's fifth presidential election offers hope that its politics are evolving from what one voter described as "two parties shouting at each other".

The improved performance by the Democratic Progressive party (DPP) also indicates that voters will continue to have an alternative to the Kuomintang. Some had feared the party was sliding to oblivion after its disastrous performance in 2008. Ma saw off an impressive campaign by the DPP's Tsai, who would have been the first female president. "This is not my personal victory; this victory belongs to the Taiwanese people," the 61-year-old told supporters.

Tsai stepped down as DPP leader as she conceded defeat. A third candidate, James Soong of the People First party, polled just 2.8 per cent of the vote.

The result was a relief for Beijing, displeased by the re-emergence of the pro-independence DPP. The election was watched closely in Washington, amid fears of potential instability.

"Beijing, Washington and even Australia will all breathe better with a Ma victory," Bruce Jacobs, a China expert at Monash University in Australia, told AP.

Beijing claims sovereignty over the self-governed island and has refused to rule out military action if Taiwan declares formal independence. But hostility has softened under Ma, under whose regime the two sides have struck an important economic deal and established the first direct air, postal and shipping links since the defeated Kuomintang retreated across the strait after losing the Chinese civil war six decades ago.

While polls had shown Tsai edging towards her rival at one point, the scale of the victory gave Ma an unequivocal mandate, said Jonathan Sullivan, an expert on Taiwan at Nottingham University. "Ma was very clear about what he was offering ... if people didn't want that they had the opportunity to say so."

The Kuomintang campaign suggested voters faced a choice between the benefits of the closer economic ties he has forged and uncertainty under Tsai.

Meanwhile, the DPP accused Ma of failing ordinary voters and pledged to improve the lives of workers.

It is not hard to find diehard supporters on either side who accuse the Kuomintang of selling out Taiwan or the DPP of being dangerous firebrands. But one DPP activist put the contest into a broader perspective.

"If we win or lose - to me, even getting here today is a remarkable achievement," said Chiu Chui Chen, hours before polls opened. Chiu, 61, spent five years in prison during the 1980s because of his pro-democracy activities. Back then, he had struggled to imagine voting.

That Taiwan did not see presidential elections until 1996, and elected its first non-Kuomintang leader four years later, helps explain why politics is a passion here.

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