Elections yesterday to select a total of 314 city councilors in Taipei, Sinbei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung ended in a tie between the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), with each winning 130 seats.
Non-partisan or independent candidates garnered 45 seats in the five city councils, while the pro-unification New Party won three seats — all in Taipei City — the People First Party (PFP), another pan-blue party, won four. The pan-green, pro-independence Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) took two seats.
Overall, 2,642,846 ballots (35.34 percent) were cast for the DPP, while 2,889,210 (38.63 percent) were cast for the KMT.
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
The pan-green camp dominates the city council in Tainan, while the pan-blue camp controls the northern, central and southern city councils in Taipei, Sinbei City, Greater Taichung and Greater Kaohsiung.
Taipei City Council
For the Taipei City Council, the KMT remains the biggest party, while the pan-blue camp retains a majority, with 10 seats more than the pan-green camp.
GRAPHIC: TT
The KMT holds 31 of the 62 seats in Taipei City Council, while the DPP, which nominated 30 candidates, got 23 candidates elected. The New Party and PFP won three and two seats respectively, while the TSU took one seat. The final two seats in the Taipei City Council will be held by independents. The pan-green Constitution Promotion Union did not win any seats.
Green Party Taiwan convener Pan Han-sheng (潘翰聲), who ran as a candidate for Taipai’s Songshan (松山) and Xinyi (信義) districts, failed to win a seat, obtaining only 4,984 votes (2.15 percent). Green Party Taiwan stands for environmental protection and sustainability and is neither pan-green nor pan-blue.
Sinbei City Council
Of the 66 seats in the Sinbei City Council, the KMT was the biggest party with 30 seas, while the DPP came in second at 28. The rest of the eight seats were taken by independents.
Notably, city councilor candidate Chen Hung-yuan (陳鴻源) won a seat on the city council with 20,854 votes (16.65 percent), the third-highest of all eight candidates in his district, but the lowest among all KMT candidates there. Sean Lien (連勝文), former vice president Lien Chan’s (連戰) son, was shot at Chen’s rally on Friday night.
Taichung City Council
The KMT won a slight victory by taking 27 of the 63 seats in the -Taichung City Council, while the DPP took 24. The pan-blue camp holds only one more seat than the pan-green camp, while independents hold 10 seats.
Tainan City Council
The DPP won a large victory by taking 27 of the 57 Tainan City Council seats, while the KMT took 13. The other 17 seats were taken by independents.
Kaohsiung City CounciL
Of the 66 Kaohsiung City Council seats, the KMT won 29 while the DPP took 28. The pan-blue camp holds two more seats than the pan-greens, while independents occupy eight seats.
Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) son, won 32,947 votes (16.84 percent). Winning the highest -number of votes in his district, Chen Chih-chung ran as an independent candidate in 10th electoral district of Cianjhen (前鎮) and Siaogang (小港), against four candidates nominated by the DPP, four from the KMT and six others.
Cheng Hsin-chu (鄭新助), who ran as an independent candidate in Kaohsiung as a supporter of former president Chen Shui-bian, won a seat on the council with 18,283 votes (9.66 percent).
Former KMT Kaohsiung City councilor Huang Shao-ting (黃紹庭), who ran as an independent candidate, won only 10,268 votes (6.87 percent), the lowest of eight candidates in his riding, which includes Cianjin (前金), Sinsing (新興) and Lingya (苓雅) districts. Huang’s election victory in 2006 was annulled because of his holding US citizenship during his term.
GENSLER SURVEY: ‘Economic infrastructure is not enough. A city needs to inspire pride, offer moments of joy and foster a sense of belonging,’ the company said Taipei was named the city with the “highest staying power” in the world by US-based design and architecture firm Gensler. The Taiwanese capital earned the top spot among 65 cities across six continents with 64 percent of Taipei respondents in a survey of 33,000 people saying they wanted to stay in the city. Rounding out the top five were Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City (61 percent), Singapore (59 percent), Sydney (58 percent) and Berlin (51 percent). Sixth to 10th place went to Monterrey, Mexico; Munich, Germany; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Vancouver; and Seoul. Cities in the US were ranked separately, with Minneapolis first at
The Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association has cautioned Japanese travelers to be vigilant against pickpockets at several popular tourist spots in Taiwan, including Taipei’s night markets, the Yongkang Street area, Zhongshan MRT Station, and Jiufen (九份) in New Taipei City. The advisory, titled “Recent Development of Concerns,” was posted on the association’s Web site under its safety and emergency report section. It urges travelers to keep backpacks fully zipped and carried in front, with valuables placed at the bottom of the bag. Visitors are advised to be especially mindful of their belongings when taking photos or speaking on the phone, avoid storing wallets and
Scoot announced yesterday that starting in October, it would increase flights between Taipei and Japan’s Narita airport and Hokkaido, and between Singapore and Taipei. The low-cost airline, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, also said it would launch flights to Chiang Rai in Thailand, Okinawa and Tokyo’s Haneda airport between December and March next year. Flights between Singapore and Chiang Rai would begin on Jan. 1, with five flights per week operated by an Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, Scoot said. Flights between Singapore and Okinawa would begin on Dec. 15, with three flights per week operated by Airbus A320 aircraft, the airline said. Services between Singapore
ENDORSING TAIWAN: Honduran presidential candidate Nasry Afura said that Honduras was ‘100 times better off’ when it was allied with Taipei The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it would explore the possibility of restoring diplomatic relations with Honduras based on the principle of maintaining national interests and dignity. The ministry made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions regarding an article titled: “Will Taiwan Regain a Diplomatic Ally?” published in The Diplomat on Saturday. The article said Honduras’ presidential election in November could offer Taiwan the chance to regain an ally, as multiple candidates have promoted re-establishing diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in March 2023 in favor of Beijing, but since switching its diplomatic recognition,
RSS