Small parties on Saturday made political inroads by winning local seats in the nine-in-one elections.
In its first time competing for local government offices since its formation in August 2019, the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) won 14 city and county councilor seats, performing the best among the smaller political parties.
The TPP, chaired by Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), secured four seats in the capital, Taipei, and a total of 10 in New Taipei City, Hsinchu City, Taichung, and Changhua, Hsinchu, Hualien, Nantou and Yunlin counties.
The TPP won more seats than older counterparts such as the New Power Party (NPP), which secured six seats, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) with three seats, the Taiwan Statebuilding Party with two, and the New Party and the Social Democratic Party with one seat each.
The TPP fielded 90 candidates in Saturday’s elections, including 48 in the six special municipalities — Kaohsiung, New Taipei City, Taichung, Taipei, Tainan and Taoyuan — which showed that the party was focused on urban areas, observers said.
The NPP lost ground with the number of seats it held at the city and county level falling sharply from 16 to six, after it lost all five of its seats in Taipei.
The party said it failed to meet its expectations in the elections and expressed regret to its supporters.
NPP Chairwoman Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) yesterday also announced that she was resigning from her post.
TSU Chairman Liu Yi-te (劉一德) said his party put forward five candidates for city and county council seats, winning one each in Yunlin County, Tainan and Kaohsiung.
In the six special municipalities, where a total of 377 councilor seats were up for grabs, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) won 167, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) took 152, the TPP gained six and the NPP secured one.
Of the 533 seats in the other 16 cities and counties, the KMT won 200, the DPP 152, the TPP eight and the NPP five.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
AMENDMENT: Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of high-temperature days, affecting economic productivity and public health, experts said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) is considering amending the Meteorological Act (氣象法) to classify “high temperatures” as “hazardous weather,” providing a legal basis for work or school closures due to extreme heat. CWA Administrator Lu Kuo-chen (呂國臣) yesterday said the agency plans to submit the proposed amendments to the Executive Yuan for review in the fourth quarter this year. The CWA has been monitoring high-temperature trends for an extended period, and the agency contributes scientific data to the recently established High Temperature Response Alliance led by the Ministry of Environment, Lu said. The data include temperature, humidity, radiation intensity and ambient wind,
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
RSS