Taiwan's political structure is divided into two camps – the pan-Green coalition and the pan-Blue coalition.

The pan-Green coalition consists of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) and the minor Taiwan Independence Party (TAIP). The coalition is represented by Frank Hsieh, the former mayor of Kaohsiung City.

The colour green was originally adopted in part because of its association with the environmental movement, with campaign promises to build Taiwan into a beautiful green city.

The Green camp favours Taiwan independence over Chinese reunification, and has promised to lead Taiwan towards independence if it wins the election.

The pan-Blue coalition is made up of the Kuomintang (KMT), the People First Party (PFP) and the smaller New Party (NP). It is represented by the KMT's former chairman, Ma Ying-jeou.  

The pan-Blues favours a Chinese nationalist identity over a Taiwanese separatist one, and has pledged a softer policy and greater economic linkage with the People’s Republic of China should it win the election.

The Blue camp is eager to win back its seats after suffering a humiliating defeat in the 2000 elections, which put the Green camp’s Chen Sui-bian and Annette Lu of the DPP as President and Vice-President of Taiwan respectively. The defeat had come after more than half a century of Kuomintang rule in Taiwan.

In the previous election in 2004, the Green camp won again – capturing close to 45 per cent of the seats, surpassing the Blue camp by a mere 0.22 per cent of all valid votes. This allowed Chen a second term as Taiwan's president.  The outcome was also influenced by a dramatic shooting incident where President Chen was targeted.

There are a total of 419 candidates vying for seats in the 2008 parliament.