The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) retained its stronghold in Taipei's borough warden elections yesterday, taking more than 52 percent of the 499 posts in 12 administrative districts around the capital city.
Of the 308 candidates fielded by the KMT, 237 won their bids yesterday. Compared with the last election in 2002, however, the figure was down by 27 posts.
Of the 63 candidates nominated by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), 37 won their bids, or 8.24 percent of the total posts. Compared with the 2002 election, the party lost three seats.
PHOTO: WANG YI-SUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The turnout for the election was 30.7 percent, making it the lowest in two decades. The turnout in 2002 was 37.73 percent.
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Among the 404 candidates seeking re-election, 313 of them succeeded.
A total of 930 candidates vied for 499 posts yesterday.
Compared with the 2002 election, the number of candidates was down 32.73 percent, which was mainly attributed to the new requirement that each candidate pay a NT$50,000 deposit. Those who garnered less than 10 percent of the votes cast were not entitled to a refund.
Both the DPP and the KMT wanted to fortify their grassroots support base in the runup to the 2008 presidential election.
As the new "single-member constituency, two votes" system will go into effect in the legislative elections scheduled for next year, both the pan-greens and pan-blues were desperate to claim as many borough chief posts as possible to boost their chances in the upcoming legislative race, analysts said.
Besides fielding its own candidates, the DPP also allowed 102 members to join the elections as independents.
Lee Cheng-yi (李政毅), director of the DPP's Taipei chapter, said political parties usually have limited influence in the grassroots borough chief elections.
"Therefore, we have permitted our members to run as independents, " Lee said.
With fewer candidates, nearly half of the boroughs had only two candidates competing for the top post.
Aside from the 308 candidates it had fielded, the KMT formally endorsed 71 additional members to take part in the elections.
Despite the absence of so-called political stars and the limited media coverage, campaigning was fierce in the alleys and lanes throughout Taipei.
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