The political geography was little changed yesterday as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and its ally, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), failed to boost their local standings.
Taipei City residents did not enthusiastically take part in the election. Statistics showed only 61 per-cent of voters cast ballots.
PHOTO: WU CHENG-TING, TAIPEI TIMES
In northern Taipei City, or district one, the pan-green camp and the pan-blue camp split the 10 seats down the middle. But the district was the only place the DPP's ballot-allocation strategy worked.
In district two, the pan-blue camp of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the People First Party (PFP) and New Party, retained their strong influence.
The KMT and the DPP each won three seats, the PFP took two and the TSU won one. Independent Li Ao (
The KMT's Lai Shyh-bao (
In Taipei County, the DPP held onto its 11 seats but its ally didn't fare as well. The TSU lost one of the two seats it had gained in 2001 election. The pan-blue camp added three more seats to the 13 it won in 2001 for a total of 16. KMT candidate Wu Yu-sheng (
Although President Chen Shui-bian (
In Taichung City, the pan-green and the pan-blues evenly split the eight seats being contested.
In Yunlin County, the pan-greens gained some ground, although the election was affected by the arrest of former county commissioner Chang Jung-wei (
The pan-greens added one seat to the two they won in the country in 2001 with the victory of TSU councilwoman Yin Lin-in (
In Chiayi County, the DPP safeguarded its three seats by taking 63 percent of the vote, while a KMT candidate won the other seat.
In Tainan County, home not only to President Chen but fanatic pan-green supporters, the DPP held onto its five seats by taking al-most half the votes. The KMT won two seats and an independent candidate took the remaining seat.
In Tainan City, the pan-green camp lost one of the four seats won in 2001 as the TSU's candidate lost. The KMT won two seats and a PFP candidate won one.
In the two electoral districts of Kaohsiung City, the pan-greens gained about 53 percent of the vote, a significantly improvement over the 48 percent won in 2001.
The DPP's Lee Kun-tse (
But the pan-green's vote-allocation strategy didn't work in the southern dis-trict, where they lost one seat. The greens won seven seats, the KMT took two and the PFP won two.
In Pingtung County, the DPP lost one of its four seats. The KMT won two seats and and an independent candidate took one.
In eastern Taiwan, the pan-blues continued their tradition of strong showings. In Taitung County, KMT Legislator Huang Chien-ting (
In Hualien County, DPP Legislator Lu Po-chi (
In offshore counties, independents and other candidates did well. Penghu County's sole seat was won by Lin Ping-kun (
Four Aboriginal candidates were elected in plains townships. The DPP's Chen Ying (
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form