The fall and rise of Taiwan’s Han Kuo-yu: a former Kuomintang outcast turns up the heat on Kaohsiung mayoral election rival Chen Chi-mai

Taiwan’s mayoral elections have seen a dramatic twist this year, with a long-shunned opposition politician now seeing a very good chance of winning the upcoming race in the southern city of Kaohsiung – and redrawing the self-ruled island’s political landscape, if not of the cross-strait status quo.

Han Kuo-yu, 61, an opposition Kuomintang outcast since his eight-year stint as a legislator ended in 2001, is seriously threatening his Kaohsiung mayoral opponent Chen Chi-mai from the ruling, independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, just six days from Saturday’s local polls.

With almost no blessing from his party – he received neither money nor resources after being nominated in May to run for Kaohsiung’s top post – Han was originally seen as mere KMT electoral cannon fodder; treated as expendable in what was certain to be a poor finish in a constituency long considered a stronghold of the pro-independence camp.

But in just six months, he has proved indispensable, gaining surprising popularity. His acceptance even has spilled over to other KMT candidates, helping them gather support in local election campaigns elsewhere in Taiwan. Once shunned by other aspirants, Han is now the most sought-after KMT campaign accessory.

As of November 13, the last day that local agencies were allowed to release the results of opinion polls measuring the popularity or approval ratings of candidates before Saturday’s vote, some surveys had Han leading Chen by 3-17 percentage points; others, however, showed him trailing his DPP rival by 3-10 percentage points.