TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The rout of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Taiwan’s nine-in-one elections on Saturday (Nov. 26) can be attributed to a series of blunders and the “re-election advantage” of its main rival, the Kuomintang (KMT), some analysts have suggested.

The DPP garnered control of five out of the 21 municipalities, their worst showing ever. Comparatively, the main opposition party, the KMT, seized 13 cities and counties, including four of the six special municipalities.

Incumbency allowed many KMT candidates seeking a second term to cling onto power as heads of cities and counties, given that they had not made mistakes fatal enough to cost their leadership, said Shen Yu-Chung (沈有忠), a professor at Tunghai University’s Department of Political Science.

Such victories included New Taipei, Taichung, Changhua, and Yunlin, of which the leaders have done quite a decent job during the past years, CNA quoted him as saying.

Shen also cited a number of issues where the DPP made mistakes, including the thesis saga sparked by former DPP Taoyuan mayoral candidate Lin Chih-chien (林智堅) and the late appeal to the China threat, which an observer slammed as a flawed tactic for elections on local levels.

There is also the role of DPP’s “flank force,” which Taiwanese business expert Hsieh Chin-ho (謝金河) has blamed for contributing to its debacle.

Pro-DPP media outlets and actors, for example, have helped fan the flames of controversies and allegations surrounding certain KMT politicians to such an extent that some voters may find repugnant, Hsieh believes. An example was the unsubstantiated affair allegations against the father of Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), the elected Taipei mayoral candidate of the KMT.