The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) maintained its grip on power in yesterday’s local government elections despite an improved showing by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Voter turnout was 66.32 percent nationwide.
The KMT took 12 of the 17 mayor and commissioner positions up for grabs, while the DPP won four, and one went to an independent, formerly KMT candidate.
The DPP increased its share of the overall vote to 45.9 percent, up from 38.2 percent four years ago, while taking back control of the hotly contested Yilan County after losing it to the KMT four years ago.
PHOTO: FANG PIN-CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
The result in Yilan County, with the DPP’s Lin Tsung-hsien (林聰賢) coming out on top, will be seen as a sharp personal rebuke to President and KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who made 10 trips to the county to stump for his party’s candidate, Commissioner Lu Guo-hua (呂國華).
HUALIEN
PHOTO: CNA
The KMT also suffered a blow in Hualien County, where independent candidate Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁) defeated Du Li-hua (杜麗華) by a massive margin of 46,929 votes.
Fu was kicked out of the KMT after deciding to run even though he was not barred under the party’s anti-corruption regulations.
Yesterday’s polls were the first major election since Ma took office in May last year and was seen by many as a mid-term test of his administration.
Ma blamed the party’s disappointing performance on the “overall environment,” such as the economy and unemployment.
Accompanied by Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) and KMT Secretary-General Chan Chun-po (詹春柏), Ma acknowledged the defeats in Hualien and Yilan, but highlighted the KMT’s victories elsewhere.
“Our performance is not as good as expected in terms of the cities and counties we won and the overall turnout. However, it is the overall environment, rather than any single factor, that contributed to the outcome,” Ma said at a post-election press conference at the KMT headquarters.
“We will thoroughly examine government performance, urge the Cabinet to revive the economy and fight corruption,” he said.
‘IMPROVEMENTS’
In response to DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) description of the results as a sign of opposition to Ma’s cross-strait policies, Ma said the majority of the public supports these policies, but that the government will listen to the public and make “improvements” if necessary.
He declined to say whether the outcome reflected the plunge in his approval ratings or whether there would be a personnel reshuffle in the party or government.
However, Ma said the party would discuss measures tomorrow against members who violated party regulations by campaigning for non-party candidates.
When Ma was party chairman four years ago, he made a dramatic vow to resign as chairman if the KMT failed to win at least half the seats available. Ma did not make the same promise this year and played down the importance of the polls ahead of yesterday, describing them as local, small-scale elections.
As for the party’s defeat in Hualien, Ma said the KMT “did the right thing” by not nominating Fu.
DPP PLEASED
At a post-election press conference last night, Tsai said the results were a major confidence booster and motivation for the DPP to improve in the coming days, urging party members to continue to stand united in the future.
“We are encouraged by the results, but we are not necessarily content. We still have a long road ahead of us with many things to be done,” Tsai said after taking a deep bow to show the party’s gratitude to those who supported the campaign.
Tsai said that yesterday’s estimated turnout for the DPP was its highest ever, apart from the 2004 presidential race.
Although the DPP only won four of the 17 county and city heads, many DPP candidates managed to narrow the gap — an indication that the public is fed up with the Ma administration and that the DPP is recovering from tough times, she said.
“We call on the government to stop ignoring public opinion. No matter how much the KMT hopes to dissociate the election results from the government’s performance, it is impossible,” she said, calling yesterday’s results a no-confidence vote in the KMT.
These polls were widely viewed as a mid-term election for Ma and Tsai, but Tsai said for the DPP it was a group effort from the beginning. She declined to say whether it would affect her status in the party or her chances of running for president in 2012.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY LOA IOK-SIN
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
UNPRECEDENTED: In addition to the approved recall motions, cases such as Ma Wen-chun’s in Nantou are still under review, while others lack enough signatures The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced yesterday that a recall vote would take place on July 26, after it approved the first batch of recall motions targeting 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安). Taiwan is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of mass recall campaigns, following a civil society push that echoed a call made by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in January to initiate signature drives aimed at unseating KMT legislators. Under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Taiwanese can initiate a recall of district-elected lawmakers by collecting
RSS