The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) won a resounding victory over the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in yesterday's local government elections, in a win attributed to voter unhappiness with the DPP's poor performance and entanglement in recent scandals.
The KMT won 14 out of 23 city and county constituencies, while the DPP -- which previously controlled 9 counties and cities -- won just six seats.
Among the constituencies that changed hands from the DPP to the KMT were the traditional pan-green strongholds of Taipei and Ilan Counties. The DPP also lost Chiayi City, long an anti-KMT sanctuary during the days of Martial Law and the dangwai democracy movement.
PHOTO: LIN CHIN-CHI, TAIPEI TIMES
"This is not a triumph for the KMT but for the Taiwanese people," KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in a victory speech last night. "The DPP was not defeated by the KMT, but by itself."
Ma had said that he would resign if his party failed to get at least 11 candidates elected in the commissioner and mayoral polls.
Yesterday's vote was called a "three-in-one" election because it combined county commissioner and city mayor elections, county and city councilor elections and township chief elections.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUN, TAIPEI TIMES
Although yesterday's elections were local government polls, the ruling and opposition parties considered the results crucial to gaining momentum ahead of the 2008 presidential election, raising the stakes in the contest.
In two key races, the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) Luo Wen-chia (
Relentless attacks
Although the KMT has often been criticized for its poor campaign strategy, analysts attributed the party's success to its relentless criticism of the government's poor record and tenacious pursuit of a recent string of scandals, including the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) scandal and the "vultures" insider-trading case.
DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), who said that he would resign as chairman if Luo lost in Taipei County, or if the party failed to win at least 10 seats in the commissioner and mayoral polls, offered to resign last night.
Su said that his party accepted the election results, and he called on the public to continue to have faith in the DPP.
"The DPP has lost one election, but Taiwan cannot lose," Su said.
To express their regret over the defeat and accept responsibility for the outcome, Su, Presidential Office Secretary-General Yu Shyi-kun and Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) bowed to the public three times.
66 percent turnout
The DPP garnered about 3.7 million votes -- around 42 percent of the total, while the KMT received 4.5 million votes, or about 51 percent. The Central Election Commission estimated the turnout to be approximately 66 percent of registered voters.
The DPP held on to its southern strongholds of Pingtung County, Tainan City and county and Kaohsiung County, while the KMT took control in northern, central and eastern Taiwan.
Three remote counties on outlying islands remained loyal to the pan-blue camp, with Penghu, Kinmen County and Lienchiang County -- the official administrative title for the Matsu archipelago -- all firmly controlled by the pan-blue alliance. Kinmen County went to the New Party, while Lienchiang County went to the PFP and Penghu went to the KMT.
The People First Party (PFP) captured one district, while the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) came out of yesterday's vote empty-handed.
Blue north
In northern Taiwan, the KMT seized control in six districts, including Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli counties as well as Hsinchu and Keelung Cities. The DPP captured none.
In central Taiwan, the KMT obtained six seats in Taichung, Changhua and Nantou counties and Taichung and Chiayi cities. The DPP captured Yunlin County and held on to Chiayi County.
Eastern Taiwan, which has long been controlled by the KMT, remained a pan-blue stronghold.
Hualien County went to the KMT, while a scandal-plagued former KMT member also won in Taitung County as an independent candidate.
Taitung Council Speaker Wu Chun-li (吳俊立) defeated two independent candidates to hold on to his seat. Wu, however, may be suspended from his post in accordance with the Law on Local Government Systems (地方制度法).
He was convicted of corruption by the High Court but has appealed the ruling. He has also been charged with vote-buying but is out on NT$1 million (US$29,800) bail.
NETWORK-MAPPING PROJECT: The database contains 170 detailed files of Taiwanese politicians and about 23 million records of household registration data in Taiwan China has developed a network-mapping project targeting political figures and parties in Taiwan to monitor public opinion during elections and to craft tailored influence campaigns aimed at dividing Taiwanese society, according to documents leaked by Chinese technology firm GoLaxy (中科天璣). The documents, collected by Taipei-based Doublethink Lab, showed a database was specifically created to gather detailed information on Taiwanese political figures, including their political affiliations, job histories, birthplaces, residences, education, religion and a brief biography about them. Several notable Taiwanese politicians are in the database, including President William Lai (賴清德), former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍),
RECOGNITION: Former Fijian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry said that Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy serves as a stabilizing force in the Indo-Pacific region Taiwan can lead the unification of the Chinese people, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Polish president Lech Walesa said in Taipei yesterday, adding that as the world order is changing, peaceful discussion would find good solutions, and that the use of force and coercion would always fail. Walesa made the remarks during his keynote address at a luncheon of the Yushan Forum in Taipei, titled “Indo-Pacific Partnership Prospects: Taiwan’s Values, Technology and Resilience,” organized by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Walesa said that he had been at the forefront of a big peaceful revolution and “if
KEY INDUSTRY: The vice premier discussed a plan to create a non-red drone supply chain by next year, which has been allocated a budget of more than NT$7.2 billion The government has budgeted NT$44.2 billion (US$1.38 billion) to cultivate Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) industry over the next five years, which would make the nation a major player in the industry’s democratic supply chain in the Asia-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. Cho made the remarks during a visit to the facilities of Cub Elecparts Inc (為升電裝). Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Su-yueh (陳素月) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsieh Yi-fong (謝依鳳) also participated in the trip. Cub Elecparts has transitioned from the automotive industry to the defense industry, which is the top priority among the nation’s
UPGRADED MISSILE: The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology is reportedly to conduct a live-fire test of the Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missile on Thursday next week The US Army is planning to build new facilities to boost explosives production and strengthen its supply chain, a move aimed at addressing munitions shortages and supporting obligations to partners including Taiwan, Ukraine and Israel, Defense News reported. The army has issued a sources sought notice for a proposed Center of Excellence at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky, the report said. The facility would serve as a hub within the US industrial base for the production of key military explosives, including research department explosives (RDX) and high melting explosives (HMX), while also supporting research and development of next-generation materials. The proposed
RSS