Despite the fact that 69 out of 160 serving legislators failed to retain their seats in the next legislature in Saturday's election, more than 80 percent of the 113-member new legislature will be made up of familiar faces.
Apart from the 69 lawmakers who failed in their re-election attempts, another 57 decided not to run, making a total of 126 lawmakers that will be departing the legislature.
However, since 91 serving legislators won re-election and three of the new legislators -- the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)'s Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) and Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) -- have served as lawmakers at some point in the past, more than 80 percent of the new legislature will be comprised of "old faces."
Among those successfully re-elected, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiu Ching-chun (
Among the casualties were senior lawmakers from across party lines.
These included Tainan County KMT legislator Hung Yu-chin (洪玉欽), who had already served eight terms; the People First Party's Shen Chih-hwei (沈智慧) from Taichung City, who had served six terms; and five-timers Lee Sen-zong (李顯榮) and Chao Yung-ching (趙永清) of the DPP -- both of Taipei County -- and the KMT's Ho Jyh-huei (
The most senior DPP Legislator, six-time legislator Hong Chi-chang (洪奇昌) also lost his seat because he was ranked fifteenth on the party's at-large list.
The DPP only secured 14 at-large seats. Four-time KMT Legislator Hsu Shu-po (
Most of the pan-green camp lawmakers who switched party affiliation ahead of the election lost, with legislators Liao Pen-yen (廖本煙), Huang Chung-yung (黃宗源) and Ho Min-hao (何敏豪) -- who jumped ship from the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) to the DPP -- all failing in their re-election bids.
Lee Sen-zong (
On the other hand, only one of the six People First Party (PFP) lawmakers who ran under the KMT banner, Ko Shu-min (
Among the 60 DPP lawmakers seeking re-election, 41 -- including 35 in the district elections and six on the at-large list -- failed. As for the PFP, two of its three lawmakers seeking re-election failed, while all three of the TSU's re-election seekers lost.
For the KMT, only 13 out of 81 lawmakers seeking re-election were unsuccessful.
All parties that failed to obtain 5 percent of votes cast -- all of them except for the KMT and DPP -- are unable to recommend candidates for presidential and vice presidential elections. additional reporting by maggie lu
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS