The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday retained two legislative seats, while the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lost one of the two seats it previously held in legislative by-elections held in four cities and counties.
The DPP’s Yu Tian (余天) beat the KMT’s Cheng Shih-wei (鄭世維) and independent Su Ching-yen (蘇卿彥) in New Taipei City, and the DPP’s Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) defeated the KMT’s Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介), as well as independent candidates Chen Hsiao-yu (陳筱諭), Wu Ping-hui (吳炳輝) and Hsu Kuo-tung (徐國棟), in Tainan.
In Changhua County, the KMT’s Ko Cheng-fang (柯呈枋) bested the DPP’s Huang Chen-yen (黃振彥), the New Power Party’s Yang Tse-min (楊澤民) and independent Chi Ching-tang (紀慶堂), while independent candidate Chen Yu-chen (陳玉珍) claimed victory in Kinmen County, defeating the KMT’s Hung Li-ping (洪麗萍) and independent candidates Chen Tsang-chiang (陳滄江), Tsai Hsi-hu (蔡西湖) and Lu Kuan-yu (盧冠宇), as well as the Kinmen Kaoliang Party’s Hung Chih-heng (洪志恆).
Photo: Yang Chin-cheng, Taipei Times
The by-elections were held to fill four seats vacated by lawmakers who won public posts in local elections in November last year or were stripped of their office by courts due to corruption.
Political observers had previously said that the by-elections would be a harbinger of next year’s presidential election.
The DPP and the KMT brought party heavyweights during campaigning, with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and former premier William Lai (賴清德) lobbying for DPP candidates, and Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) and former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) stumping for KMT candidates.
The KMT was hoping to ride the momentum it created in the local elections when it won a majority of the municipalities, while the DPP suffered a setback, the observers said.
The DPP, on the other hand, was hoping to make a comeback, they added.
At a post-election news conference at party headquarters in Taipei, DPP Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said: “The DPP did not win — we just stopped the bleeding for now. While the outcome is encouraging, we are not calling for celebrations.”
The DPP would continue to build a coalition of individuals, organizations and parties with different ideals, but are united by a common cause, Luo said, before thanking Sunflower movement activist Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) for stumping for Yu on Friday evening.
Asked whether the results suggested a weakening of the “Han wave,” a term that refers to Han’s reputation for energizing voters for other pan-blue political candidates, Luo said: “The only wave I care about is the democratic wave.”
KMT spokesman Ouyang Lung (歐陽龍) said that the KMT did not capture the three seats it targeted elsewhere, but held the line in Changhua County.
“Now is not the time for the KMT to be proud. We promise to the public that we will do everything in our power to nominate the best candidates for the presidency, vice presidency and lawmakers in the elections next year,” he said.
Additional reporting by Su Fun-her
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the