The pan-green camp yesterday made substantial gains in the legislature, with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) obtaining more than 43 percent of votes in the legislative election, against a little more than 50 percent for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP).
The DPP secured more than 4.5 million votes, or 34.6 percent of the vote. The TSU won 1.18 million votes, or 8.95 percent of the vote, while the KMT obtained more than 5.86 million, or 44.55 percent, and the PFP 722,000, or 5.48 percent.
Both the TSU and the PFP made their way back into the legislature by garnering more than 5 percent of the popular vote, a requirement for parties to secure legislator-at-large seats.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
The PFP had a total of 12 candidates competing in the fourth, sixth and eighth districts of Taipei, the first district in New Taipei City (新北市), the seventh and eighth districts in Greater Taichung, the first district in Greater Tainan, in Kinmen County and the third district of Taoyuan County, as well as the mountain area and plains Aboriginal districts.
Some of them were popular legislators, including Lee Ao (李敖) and Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄), but almost none were able to gain sufficient votes to come out on top.
The performance of the candidates fielded by the two major parties — the KMT and the DPP — varied.
Photo: CNA
Despite the high publicity that surrounded his campaign, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), the son of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), failed in his first bid as an independent candidate. His participation in the ninth district of Greater Kaohsiung is believed to have split the DPP vote and may have cost the DPP’s Kuo Wen-cheng’s (郭玟成) bid for re-election as he lost to KMT Legislator Lin Kuo-cheng (林國正).
Former New Party legislator Joanna Lei (雷倩), the daughter of former Vice Admiral Lei Hsueh-ming (雷學明), who left the KMT in 2007 for the New Party, also failed in her bid as an independent candidate in Zhonghe (中和), New Taipei City.
Former Lienchiang County commissioner Chen Hsueh-sheng (陳雪生), formerly of the PFP, but who ran as an independent, defeated incumbent KMT legislator Tsao Erh-chang (曹爾忠), who was seeking a sixth term in the legislature.
GRAPHIC: TT
Lin Pin-kuen (林炳坤) of the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union and the incumbent legislator for Penghu was defeated by DPP Penghu County councilor Yang Yao (楊曜). Some attributed Lin’s surprising defeat to the fact that the airport in Penghu was closed because of heavy fog, which prevented some people from returning home to vote.
Despite his failure to unseat the KMT’s Alex Fei (費鴻泰), Green Party candidate Pan Han-sheng (潘翰聲) garnered more votes this year, as the DPP and PFP did not field candidates in the seventh district of Taipei.
Former legislator Lo Fu-chu (羅福助), who was running as an independent candidate in the 12th district of New Taipei City and is rumored to have ties to organized crime, trailed the incumbent, KMT Legislator Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) and DPP candidate Shen Fa-hui (沈發惠).
Lo’s son, KMT Legislator Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才), was re-elected in the 11th district of New Taipei City.
Meanwhile, four former Government Information Office ministers also ran in the legislative elections this year, with mixed results.
Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓), who was running for the KMT in Greater Tainan, failed to unseat DPP Legislator Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財). Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) of the KMT beat his opponent, DPP legislative nominee Kuo Chun-ming (郭俊銘), in Greater Taichung.
DPP candidates Lin Chia-long (林佳龍) and Pasuya Yao (姚文智) both won in Greater Taichung and Taipei respectively. Lin defeated the incumbent, KMT legislator Daniel Hwang (黃義交), while Pasuya Yao defeated Justin Chou (周守訓) of the KMT.
Former government spokesperson Chuang Suo-hang (莊碩漢), meanwhile, failed in his bid to unseat KMT Legislator Lu Chia-chen (盧嘉辰).
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
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