Old allegiances fade as Taiwan heads for the polls

By Ralph Jennings

TAIPEI (Reuters) - There was a time when Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) could count on the loyalty of millions of voters who reviled the China-friendly Nationalist Party. No longer.

As the island heads for a presidential election on March 22, old allegiances based on how people felt about China are fading and a new generation of voters are looking to their wallets.

Take shopkeeper Jack Chen, 33. He feels he should support the DPP because it is the tradition in his farming village of Lucao in the south, a bastion of the pro-independence party that has held the presidency for the past eight years.

But Chen says that he and others his age are prepared to consider the Nationalist or Kuomintang (KMT) party, which ruled the island with an iron hand for decades, if it offers a president who can revive the economy.

"The DPP has held a lot of activities here, but whether they've done good stuff is hard to say," said the shopkeeper, whose parents and other town elders still back the party. "Our part of Taiwan is pro-DPP because it's a habit."

Discontent over the economy, whose growth of 4-6 percent in recent years masks a widening wealth gap, has already bloodied the DPP this year. It won just a quarter of parliament's seats in legislative elections in January and the KMT emerged with the lion's share.

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