Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Keelung mayoral candidate Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) yesterday won election with a sweeping victory over Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) contender Hsieh Li-kung (謝立功) and independent candidate Huang Ching-tai (黃景泰), netting 53.15 percent of the vote and overturning the political landscape of the nation’s northernmost municipality, which had been viewed as a KMT stronghold.
Having led since the vote counts began, Lin, who secured a total of 101,010 votes, beat Hsieh, who received 52,198 votes, by a margin of 25.68 percentage points.
Keelung City Councilor Huang, who is being detained amid a probe into alleged bribery and misappropriation of public funds, received 30,914 votes — 16.27 percent of the tally.
Photo: Lu Hsien-hsiu, Taipei Times
Basing his campaign upon a promise to bring about change for Keelung residents, Lin pledged to implement a string of policies — most notably to construct an MRT line connecting the city with Taipei’s Nangang District (南港) — and to enable Keelung to emulate Taipei and New Taipei City in terms of development through urban regeneration and the promotion of tourism.
With the win, Lin became the second DPP mayor of Keelung since the post was put to a direct vote in 1950, after Lee Ching-yong (李進勇), who was elected in 1997.
Lin won about 11 percent more votes than in his previous campaign for the post in 2009, while Hsieh received a significantly smaller percentage of votes — 27.47 percent — than outgoing Mayor Chang Tong-rong (張通榮) of the KMT did in the previous election. Chang, who was seeking re-election then, had 86,001 votes.
Smiling broadly, the 43-year-old Lin was cheered onstage by thousands of supporters gathered in front of his campaign office, who shouted: “Greetings to the mayor.”
“This outcome is not my personal victory, and it means more than just an election. This is an opportunity for Keelung residents to escape the fate of being the bottom tier of Taiwanese society and for Keelung to break away from its status of a second-rate city,” he said.
“Keelung, as the ‘tip’ of Taiwan, should be a tip-top city,” he said.
The win came despite a concern among Lin’s supporters that had been looming ever since pre-election polls were conducted by media outlets and the candidates’ campaign offices, which indicated that at least 30 percent of potential Keelung voters were still “undecided” with a couple of weeks remaining before the election.
Huang’s campaign staff interpreted the phenomenon as being linked to Huang’s detention, which made many of his supporters reluctant to express their stance.
The former Keelung Council speaker been held incommunicado since Sept. 5 by the Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office following a questioning session that tied him to alleged bribe-taking and misappropriation of Keelung City Council budgets, each amounting to more than NT$10 million (US$322,300).
A hunger strike on Monday at the Keelung Detention Center in protest of the “unfair treatment” he received had little effect on the results.
Huang and Hsieh had over the past week sent out “distress signals” to undecided pan-blue camp supporters, soliciting their backing with newspaper advertisements and roadside banners bearing the same message: “Voting for the other camp is voting for Lin.”
The war of words further degenerated on Friday when Hsieh filed a lawsuit against Huang’s camp for distributing fliers bearing Hsieh’s signature, which urged voters to “abandon Hsieh and elect Huang.”
Huang’s wife, Chen Chiu-ling (陳秋伶), thanked his supporters and told them not to be sad, while his brother, Huang Ching-nan (黃景南), said he hoped that Lin would fulfill his promises and lead Keelung to a brighter future.
Hsieh apologized to his supporters for his defeat, saying: “I will take responsibility for my failure. I did not work hard enough, but I will always have the back of Keelung residents.”
He said he would set up an office so that he can continue serving Keelung residents and listen to what they have to say.
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