Editing People First Party (Taiwan) (section)

==History==
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The PFP was founded by [[James Soong]] and his supporters after his failed independent [[2000 Taiwan presidential election|bid for the presidency]] in 2000. Soong was previously a member of the [[Kuomintang]] but was expelled from the party after he announced an independent presidential bid. Soong himself is the chairman, and dominates much of its politics. The name of the party, ''People First'' (親民), has [[Confucian]] connotations.<ref name="naming" group="note">{{Lang|zh-tw|親民}} literally means "to be close to the people." The [[Great Learning]] states, "What the Great Learning teaches, is—to illustrate illustrious virtue; '''to renovate the people'''; and to rest in the highest excellence" (Tr. [[James Legge|Legge]], 大學之道明明德，在親民，在止於至善。)</ref>

The party maintains a close but tense relationship with the [[Kuomintang]] (KMT) as part of the [[Pan-Blue Coalition|pan-blue coalition]].<ref>{{cite news|title=On the brink|url=http://www.economist.com/node/898158|access-date=8 November 2016|newspaper=The Economist|date=6 December 2001}}</ref> However, since PFP had, like the [[New Party (Taiwan)|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.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hong|first1=Caroline|title=Pan-blue tensions rising over election coordination|url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2004/11/01/2003209224|access-date=8 November 2016|work=Taipei Times|date=11 November 2004}}</ref>

To avoid a repeat of this effect, which led to the election of [[Democratic Progressive Party]] candidate [[Chen Shui-bian]] to the presidency in 2000 by a low share of votes,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Suh|first1=Sangwon|title=Seismic Changes|url=http://www.cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/magazine/2000/0331/cover1.html|access-date=8 November 2016|publisher=CNN|date=31 March 2000}}</ref> Chairman Soong ran as vice-president on KMT Chairman [[Lien Chan]]'s presidential ticket in the [[2004 Taiwan presidential election|2004 presidential election]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Huang|first1=Sandy|title=Lien-Soong ticket a done deal -- almost|url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2003/02/15/0000194626|access-date=8 November 2016|work=Taipei Times|date=15 February 2003}}</ref>

After his defeat in the [[Taipei]] mayoral elections held on 9 December 2006, Soong announced that he would retire from politics.<ref>{{cite news|title=Taiwan's James Soong: the perennial candidate ... and loser|url=http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1901830/taiwans-james-soong-perennial-candidate-and-loser|access-date=8 November 2016|work=South China Morning Post|date=16 January 2016}}</ref> At this point, with no clear goals, the PFP faced an uncertain future, and considered merging with the Kuomintang (KMT).<ref>{{cite news|title=Taiwan's troubled politics|url=http://www.economist.com/node/8404871?fsrc=rss|access-date=8 November 2016|newspaper=The Economist|date=11 December 2006}}</ref> 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]] to be his running mate for the [[2012 Taiwan presidential election|2012 election]], collecting enough signatures to make it on the ballot.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20110921-300649.html|title=James Soong announces Taiwan presidential bid|access-date=16 January 2016}}</ref>  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 Taiwan presidential election|2000 Presidential election]]), Soong insisted that his campaign was a serious one and that he would complete his run.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lowyinterpreter.org/post/2011/10/04/Deja-vu-in-Taiwan.aspx|title=Déjà vu in Taiwan?|author=Malcolm Cook|access-date=16 January 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/MJ04Ad01.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003180837/http://atimes.com/atimes/China/MJ04Ad01.html|url-status=unfit|archive-date=3 October 2011|title=Asia Times Online :: China News, China Business News, Taiwan and Hong KongNews and Business.|access-date=16 January 2016}}</ref> On election day, the Soong-Lin ticket underperformed and garnered 2.77% of votes, while [[Ma Ying-jeou]] of the KMT defeated [[Tsai Ing-wen]] of the DPP by a margin of 51.60% to 45.63%. In the [[2012 Taiwanese legislative election|concurrent legislative election]] the PFP won 5.46% of the party-list vote, gaining them two seats in the [[Legislative Yuan]], and in addition won one district seat for a total of three seats.

Soong would launch presidential bids in [[2016 Taiwan presidential election|2016]] and [[2020 Taiwan presidential election|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]].  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.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Baron |first1=James |title=James Soong: The End of an (Authoritarian) Era in Taiwan |url=https://thediplomat.com/2020/01/james-soong-the-end-of-an-authoritarian-era-in-taiwan/ |website=[[The Diplomat (magazine)|The Diplomat]] |access-date=23 December 2020}}</ref>