President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) led her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to victory in yesterday’s elections, with the results giving her a solid mandate for a second term with 8.170,186 million votes, or 57.13 percent of the total ballots cast.
The first results started to come in at 4pm, showing Tsai in a comfortable lead over her main opponent, Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
As TV channels started to broadcast results of the election, people started to gather in front of DPP headquarters in Taipei, cheering and waving flags in support of Tsai and her running mate, former premier William Lai (賴清德).
Photo: How Hwee Young, EPA-EFE
The crowd often broke into chants of the party’s slogan, “Let’s Win for Taiwan in 2020.”
Several people at the scene said it was a “fantastic result,” as it meant Tsai would lead the nation as president for another four years.
It also allayed their fear that Han would become the next president, as he has shown himself to be a man of “little substance with no capacity or competence as a politician.”
Photo: Chiang Ying-ying, AP
Others said they disliked Han’s way of speaking and his behavior, and were happy to hand him a heavy defeat.
Tsai in her victory speech said the results showed that Taiwanese cherish their democratic way of life and their nation.
“Today, Taiwanese voted to keep the DPP in power and keep its majority in the legislature, which shows that our nation has been moving in the right direction in past four years,” she said.
Photo: Chris Stowers, AFP
She thanked Taiwanese for choosing progress and democracy, and to continue their way of life of freedom.
“In the past four years our administration has made progress... I promise to improve upon those foundation. Now Taiwanese have given me another four years, I will improve in those areas where we have not done enough,” the president said.
Tsai said her administration will continue to push for reforms to undertake national construction projects and to close the income gap between rich and poor.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
She would continue to guard the nation’s sovereignty and keep it safe, Tsai said.
Answering a question at a post-election news conference in Taipei, Tsai said: “This election is not about Taiwan versus China, but the result show that Taiwanese support the policies we have implemented through the past four years.”
Tsai thanked the foreign media presence and the international attention to the election, saying: “The ROC, Taiwan, is an indispensable member of the international community, and we are willing to work with other countries to share our prosperity, and to maintain regional peace and stability. All countries should consider Taiwan as a partner.”
Photo: How Hwee Young, EPA-EFE
Tsai thanked Lai, saying that he would be an important partner for the next four years, and that she would need his assistance.
She also thanked Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) for his hard work in leading the Cabinet, and implementing the government’s policies through public dialogue.
She also thank the voters, saying that she valued their confidence and support, and that they are the force behind her victory.
Photo: Tyrone Siu, Reuters
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