President Chen Shui-bian (
"This is the most disastrous defeat since the establishment of the party," Chen said. "As the party chairman, it is my inescapable responsibility to seriously face the matter and shoulder the responsibility with courage."
Chen said his resignation was effective immediately and the party would call a provisional Central Executive Committee meeting tomorrow to elect a new leader.
PHOTO: FANG PIN-CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
DPP legislative caucus leader Ker Chien-ming (
Flanked by Hsieh, Hsieh's running mate Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and other party bigwigs, Chen congratulated the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for winning the elections.
Chen, bowing to express his regret, said he felt sorry and ashamed at the electoral result but there was no time to feel sorry because there was a bigger challenge ahead as the presidential election looms.
"Let's examine our mistakes, adjust our approach and start anew," he said. "We lost the legislative elections, but we cannot lose Taiwan."
Chen called for unity and asked party members to follow Hsieh's leadership and make an all-out effort to win the people's trust again in March.
Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) did not appear at the press conference. Chen and other party officials left straight after his speech.
Earlier yesterday, DPP Secretary-General Cho Jung-tai (
Cho also asked the CEC to investigate whether Ma and other KMT officials accompanying candidates to polling stations had broken the law.
Regarding the DPP's referendum, Cho said that party workers sent to monitor the voting process reported all forms of obstruction at polling stations, particularly in Taipei City, Taipei County and Ilan County.
"We are sorry to see this happen and it is a shame to see things that should not have happened did happen," he said.
Cho said some election personnel hinted to voters that they need not pick up the referendum ballots. Some simply told them not to pick up the ballots. Some called out the names of voters picking up the referendum ballots and some separated out those who had picked up the ballots and who had not. The setup at some polling stations was also not in line with the CEC regulations, he said.
First lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) yesterday made her first public appearance in months when she came out to vote after being discharged from hospital late last month.
Wu was in the hospital after developing cold symptoms. Wu was paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair after she was hit by a van in 1984.
Wu's public appearances have been rare since corruption charges against her, Chen and his close aides were filed last year. She was last seen in public in December 2006 when she almost collapsed during her first trial on corruption and forgery charges.
Accompanied by Chen, her son and daughter-in-law, Wu did not say anything yesterday.
Chen later told reporters that Wu could barely get out to vote because of low blood pressure, but she decided to make the effort because she did not want to miss the opportunity.
Chen and Wu picked up all four ballots, two for the election and another two for the referendums.
When Chen was talking to reporters after stepping out of the polling station, firecrackers were lit to cause a disturbance. Police said they had yet to find the person responsible, but were determined to do so.
‘NEVER!’ Taiwan FactCheck Center said it had only received donations from the Open Society Foundations, which supports nonprofits that promote democratic values Taiwan FactCheck Center (TFC) has never received any donation from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), a cofounder of the organization wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday. The Taipei-based organization was established in 2018 by Taiwan Media Watch Foundation and the Association of Quality Journalism to monitor and verify news and information accuracy. It was officially registered as a foundation in 2021. National Chung Cheng University communications professor Lo Shih-hung (羅世宏), a cofounder and chairman of TFC, was responding to online rumors that the TFC receives funding from the US government’s humanitarian assistance agency via the Open Society Foundations (OSF),
ANNUAL LIGHT SHOW: The lanterns are exhibited near Taoyuan’s high-speed rail station and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the airport MRT line More than 400 lanterns are to be on display at the annual Taiwan Lantern Festival, which officially starts in Taoyuan today. The city is hosting the festival for the second time — the first time was in 2016. The Tourism Administration held a rehearsal of the festival last night. Chunghwa Telecom donated the main lantern of the festival to the Taoyuan City Government. The lanterns are exhibited in two main areas: near the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Taoyuan, which is at the A18 station of the Taoyuan Airport MRT, and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the MRT
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights