Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday secured a landslide election victory, unseating the China-friendly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) by taking 56.12 percent of the vote to become the nation’s first female president.
The DPP swept back into power after eight years in opposition, in the nation’s third transfer of power.
The DPP ticket won almost 6.9 million votes, while KMT presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) garnered 3.8 million votes, or 31 percent, and People First Party (PFP) presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) received 1.5 million votes, or 12.8 percent.
Photo: CNA
Tsai’s performance was the second-best for a presidential candidate since direct presidential elections began in 1996, falling just short of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) 2008 record of 58.44 percent of the vote.
It also represented a sharp jump from Tsai’s performance in the 2012 election, which saw her win 45.63 percent of the vote.
Tsai won in all counties and municipalities except Hualien, Taitung, Lienchiang and Kinmen counties, smashing through the Jhuoshuei River (濁水溪) barrier between Yunlin and Changhua counties, which has traditionally demarcated the northern boundary of the DPP’s core support, in a clean sweep of the nation’s northern cities and counties.
Graphic: Tania Chou, Taipei Times
Chu even lost in New Taipei City, where he serves as mayor.
At Tsai’s national campaign headquarters in Taipei, supporters looking at a large outdoor screen burst into cheers whenever Tsai tallied a further 100,000 votes. As the day progressed, her votes surpassed 1 million, then 2 million and 3 million, with the cheering and flag-waving continuing nonstop as the tally exceeded 6 million.
“We are Taiwanese. We are Taiwanese. We are Taiwanese,” the crowd chanted, in response to both Ma’s China-leaning policies and a Chinese boycott of South Korea-based Taiwanese singer Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), who was forced to apologize for carrying a Republic of China (ROC) flag and to say that she is Chinese, in a video uploaded to YouTube on Friday night.
Graphic: Lance Liu, Taipei Times
“With our votes, we proved that we are a sovereign and independent nation,” DPP legislator-at-large-elect Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇), who was one of the hosts of last night’s rally, told the crowd. “This is our nation.”
At an international news conference at 8:30pm yesterday, Tsai spoke of her respect for Taiwanese, thanked her rivals and promised cross-party collaboration.
“Today, Taiwanese wrote history with their ballots and signaled the third transition of power since direct presidential suffrage was put in place, as well as the first transition of power in the legislature,” Tsai said. “I would like to show my deepest respect to those who went to the polls.”
Photo: EPA
As for her rivals, Chu and Soong, Tsai expressed her gratitude that they upheld democratic values so that the election could be completed.
She said that she would take their criticism as a reference for policymaking and would work with other parties to make the nation a better place.
Tsai said that in the four months leading up to her inauguration on May 20, she would work with the current government to complete the transition of power, with the goal of maintaining political stability.
Photo: AP
Chu conceded defeat in the presidential election at about 7pm, apologizing to supporters for failing to live up to their expectations and fulfilling the KMT’s obligation to safeguard the ROC.
“I’m sorry,” Chu told a gathering of somber-looking supporters, some in tears.
“As both the chairman and presidential candidate of the KMT, I cannot shirk my responsibility and must shoulder all the blame. Dear friends, I have failed you. I will immediately resign from my post as KMT chairman,” Chu said.
Photo: Damir Sagolj, Reuters
His supporters quickly replied: “We will not allow you [to resign]. The [ROC] flag must not fall.”
Chu said he respects the electorate’s decision and expressed his hope that Tsai and the DPP would endeavor to steer the nation toward a brighter and happier future, which prompted supporters to shout: “Impossible.”
Many supporters shed tears as Chu spoke, with some even leaving in the middle of his speech, saying “it is too sad to listen to this.”
However, some of the KMT’s elderly supporters asked Chu to stop talking, saying: “How dare you keep talking after losing?”
Chu concluded his speech by pledging to reflect on his and the KMT’s defeats and said the KMT would be a responsible opposition party over the next four years.
At the PFP’s headquarters, some supporters began applauding after Soong (宋楚瑜) and his running mate, Republican Party Chairperson Hsu Hsin-ying (徐欣瑩), garnered 1 million votes.
Soong conceded defeat and said he hoped Tsai would keep her campaign promises.
Soong also said that peace is what people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and around the world want, and the ball is now in the DPP’s court.
“It is the people in Taiwan and China who should be handling cross-strait affairs, not any outsider. The president is the key person in determining the direction of cross-strait affairs,” he said, adding that people on both sides of the Strait hope that cross-strait issues can be handled in a rational manner.
A long-time Soong supporter surnamed Lin (林) said she had hoped that Soong would secure as many votes as Tsai.
Lin said Tsai would have to respond to changes in the world much faster than before and quickly unite Taiwanese after the election.
Meanwhile, Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) late yesterday said he has tendered his resignation to Ma and would not accept any attempt to have him remain in his post.
The premier’s resignation is pro forma in Taiwan for a ruling party when it loses a major election.
This story has been corrected since it was first published to show that Tsai’s final percentage of the vote was less than President Ma Ying-jeou’s in his first win in 2008.
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said that it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa this morning and a land warning at night as it approached Taiwan. Ragasa intensified from a tropical storm into a typhoon at 8am yesterday, the CWA said, adding that at 2pm, it was about 1,110km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip. The typhoon was moving northwest at 13kph, with sustained winds of up to 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA Web site showed. Forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said that Ragasa was projected to strengthen as it neared the Bashi Channel, with its 200km
MATAIAN RIVER: Rescue operations were ongoing, with officials urging residents to move to higher floors where possible as teams focus first on those at ground level Floodwaters from the overflowing Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) barrier lake swept into Hualien County’s Guangfu Township (光復) yesterday afternoon, leaving hundreds of people trapped and three missing as of press time last night, the Hualien County Fire Bureau said. The waters surged into downtown Guangfu after the riverbank burst at about 2:50pm, carrying mud and debris and submerging streets to rooftop level in some areas. Residents were seen climbing onto vehicles and rooftops to await rescue as thick, silt-laden water inundated the town. The surge destroyed the Mataian Bridge (馬太鞍溪橋) and flooded the Guangfu Railway Station. Rescue operations were launched with support from fire departments
RSS