Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said she expects the party’s candidates to fight for victory in all five legislative by-elections next month.
Tsai said the by-elections are “the first step toward legislative reform,” adding that if the DPP fares well, it can expect the number of seats it commands in the legislature to increase significantly in next year’s legislative elections.
The DPP originally had 40 seats in the 113-member legislature, but because three DPP legislators won their bids in the nine-in-one elections on Nov. 29 last year, the party’s seat count has fallen to 37.
The three former DPP legislators who vacated their seats were Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), Changhua County Commissioner Wei Ming-ku (魏明谷) and Pingtung County Commissioner Pan Men-an (潘孟安).
Tsai expressed hope that the DPP will win all five legislative by-elections in Greater Taichung and in Changhua, Miaoli, Nantou and Pingtung counties on Feb. 7.
She has already embarked on campaign trips for the DPP candidates in Changhua and Nantou counties.
The two other by-elections are to fill the seats of former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Lin Ming-chen (林明溱), who was elected commissioner of Nantou County and Hsu Yao-chang (徐耀昌), who was elected Miaoli County commissioner.
The KMT currently holds 63 seats in the legislature.
The DPP scored a resounding victory in the nine-in-one elections, taking 13 out of the 22 city and county seats available, including mayoral seats in four out of the nation’s six biggest metropolitan areas.
The KMT suffered a humiliating defeat and saw the number of its seats reduced to six from 15.
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