Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) secured a landslide victory in yesterday’s Yunlin legislative by-election, giving the party a boost as corruption charges against former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) continue to dog the opposition party.
Liu garnered 74,272 votes, beating his Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rival Chang Ken-hui (張艮輝) by nearly 45,000 votes. Voter turnout was 45.55 percent.
The DPP had previously said that former Department of Health minister Yeh Ching-chuan’s (葉金川) defeat in the KMT primary for the Hualien County commissioner election in August was a reflection of growing discontent with the government and a mark of no-confidence in President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
It had also said that the KMT would suffer a setback in the Yunlin County legislative by-election.
Liu’s victory was significant to the DPP, which prior to the vote held 27 legislative seats, one shy of a quarter of the 113-seat legislature.
With a quarter of legislative seats, the DPP will be eligible to propose a recall of the president or vice president, as well as constitutional amendments.
PHOTO: LIN KUO-HSIEN, TAIPEI TIMES
Bowing to his supporters, Liu said his victory was not his alone but that of the residents of Yunlin and the people of Taiwan.
“Today marks a very touching day in the history of Taiwan’s democracy,” he said at his campaign office.
“Yunlin residents’ hope for a better democracy and cleaner politics has finally come true. We oppose vote-buying and we utterly detest smear campaigns. That is the key to my victory,” he said.
Liu said his win showed that democratic politics trounced factional politics. It also showed that even a poor kid like him had the opportunity to serve the people and the country.
“The people used their ballots to prove that I am not a gangster,” he said.
In a statement, the DPP thanked voters for giving the party another chance to serve the public.
The by-election campaign saw the three contenders attack and sue each other. Independent candidate Chang Hui-yuan (張輝元) branded Liu a “gangster” and accused KMT candidate Chang Ken-hui of buying votes. Liu sued Chang Hui-yuan for slander.
The by-election was necessary to fill the seat left vacant by Chang Hui-yuan’s son, Chang Sho-wen (張碩文), who won the seat in January last year, but lost it this year after the High Court found him guilty of taking part in a vote-buying scheme organized by his father.
Chang Hui-yuan — who was found guilty of vote buying in the first trial — wanted to run as the KMT candidate in the election, but the party rejected his registration because its “black-gold exclusion clause” prevents party members found guilty of corruption in their first trial from standing for public office.
Chang Sho-wen filed a defamation lawsuit against Chang Ken-hui at the Yunlin Prosecutors’ Office on Monday, accusing him of making groundless vote-buying allegations.
Chang Ken-hui yesterday attributed his defeat to time constraints, saying he only had 48 days to campaign and that most voters were not familiar with him.
Conceding defeat, he gave Liu his blessing and said he would respect the people’s decision.
He said he did not work hard enough and that he would examine himself honestly.
He declined to comment on factionalism or a split within the KMT, but said that “somebody used despicable means during the campaign.”
“All I wanted was a fair election,” he said.
There were signs that KMT heavyweights were cool to Chang Ken-hui standing as the party’s candidate. During a campaign rally last Saturday, KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) said it was Premier Wu Den-yi who had recommended that Chang Ken-hui stand in the by-election during his stint as KMT secretary-general.
Analysts saw Wu Poh-hsiung’s remarks as a means to distance himself from Chang Ken-hui if he failed.
Neither Ma nor Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) stumped for Chang Keng-hui.
In a statement yesterday, the KMT said it respected the choice of Yunlin residents, adding it was aware of the difficult situation in the run-up to the election, but had insisted on nominating a young, professional academic with a clean image.
The party is determined to reform because only reform will bring hope, the statement said. It also called for unity among party members.
ADDITONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said that it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa this morning and a land warning at night as it approached Taiwan. Ragasa intensified from a tropical storm into a typhoon at 8am yesterday, the CWA said, adding that at 2pm, it was about 1,110km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip. The typhoon was moving northwest at 13kph, with sustained winds of up to 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA Web site showed. Forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said that Ragasa was projected to strengthen as it neared the Bashi Channel, with its 200km
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hualien and Taitung counties declared today a typhoon day, while schools and offices in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties are also to close Typhoon Ragasa was forecast to hit its peak strength and come closest to Taiwan from yesterday afternoon through today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Taiwan proper could be out of the typhoon’s radius by midday and the sea warning might be lifted tonight, it added. CWA senior weather specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that Ragasa’s radius had reached the Hengchun Peninsula by 11am yesterday and was expected to hit Taitung County and Kaohsiung by yesterday evening. Ragasa was forecast to move to Taiwan’s southern offshore areas last night and to its southwestern offshore areas early today, she added. As of 8pm last night,
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