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 ...
or
centre-right
Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...
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 ideological or p ...
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 northeas ...
(Taiwan).
History
The PFP was founded by
James Soong 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 religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...
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. ...
states, "What the Great Learning teaches, is—to illustrate illustrious virtue; to renovate the people; and to rest in the highest excellence" (Tr. 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 northeas ...
.
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 Ta ...
(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 You ...
. 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 majorit ...
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'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 ...
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 t ...
to be his running mate for the
2012 election, 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 fro ...
of the KMT defeated
Tsai Ing-wen 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 and
2020 as well. In 2016 he would garner 12.84% of the vote, compared with 31.04% going to
Eric Chu of the KMT and 56.12% going to
Tsai Ing-wen of the DPP. In 2020 he would garner 4.26% of the vote, compared with 38.61% going to
Han Kuo-yu of the KMT and 57.13% going to
Tsai Ing-wen 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
*
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 inc ...
*
List of political parties in Taiwan
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